


The Horseman and the Hornet

by QueenNitocris



Category: Hajime no Ippo | Fighting Spirit
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Bechdel Test Pass, Character Development, Coming Out, Confidence is a powerful aphrodisiac, Cooking, Crouching Tiger Hidden Goofball, Genderfluid Character, Homelessness, Humor, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Lots of other tags that are spoilers, Mainly just smut in Chapter 19, Menstruation, Motorcycles, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Physical Therapy, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Profanity, Rags to Riches, Recovery, Sex Positive, Sexual Harassment, Shiptease, Slight Adaptational Villainy for Kimura, Slow Burn, Starvation, Takamura Got Nerfed, Travel, implied bisexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:35:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 143,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24272194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenNitocris/pseuds/QueenNitocris
Summary: As is the nature with many membership-oriented organizations, people come and go over time. New members join in to replace the ones that have to move on for a myriad of reasons.Even so, Ippo wasn’t expecting a skinny and bedraggled vagrant teenager to approach him during roadwork, much less for the kid to ask for boxing lessons as an alternative to money. When Jun Tagawa displayed an innate talent for punching, Ippo brought him back to the gym to offer something more substantial than lessons, especially when Jun collapsed at the gym from dehydration. Jun proved to be a problematic youth, but pleaded for one last chance at life. Thanks to finally catching a few breaks, Jun is on the road to physical and financial recovery. However, there’s one key detail that could unravel all of the progress in an instant; Her real name is Junko.Fighting against time, trauma, and PMS, Jun navigates through successes, failures, and heavy life decisions with the help of the Makunouchi family, the Kamogawa team, and the Mashiba siblings.
Relationships: Aoki Masaru/Tomiko, Makunouchi Ippo/Mashiba Kumi, Mashiba Ryou/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 7





	1. A NEW CAMP

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Thank you for taking a look at my first ever finished fanfic!  
> To be honest, I don’t consider myself to be much of a writer, I don’t normally make fanfiction, and I don’t read much fanfic either, but this was an itch that needed to be scratched for over a decade, and I finally took the plunge to write a 144K word mental purge over the course of 6+ months. ~~I would much rather draw this whole thing in fancomic/doujinshi form, but I have way too many other projects that need my attention first. If there’s a demand for it though, I’ll work on the doujinshi version in the upcoming years when I can afford better equipment, like a Surface Pro and Clip Studio Paint, and post it on a different site, like itch.io or gumroad.~~  
>  (Edit: 9/9/2020) I'm tempted to take down this fanfic, strip the story down to its skeleton and rewrite it as an original script for a comic. However, part of me suspects that Pepperidge Farm will remember what I did here and call me out on it years down the road. ^^; I'll open up comments for feedback.  
> My thanks to George Morikawa for creating an inspirational and highly motivating series with lots of bawdy humor and dynamic artwork. I would also like to thank AO3 member Foilfreak for being the first I’ve seen to attempt a massive fanfic on a Mashiba development plot line. I didn’t want to read the story yet because I wanted to focus on my own thing and not subconsciously plagiarize, but I wouldn’t have written mine at all if there wasn’t a leading example to give me the courage to try. There’s a wink and a nod in the story to youtuber JunsKitchen, a posthumous thank you to Hirokazu Yamaki for advancing Japanese women’s boxing, and a special thanks to Ronda Rousey and Emiko Raika for being inspirations to Jun’s character. Lastly, I’d like to thank a very wonderful and special person in my life who gave me valuable experiences to draw from and write about… who must remain nameless for privacy reasons.
> 
> A few disclaimers:  
> 1\. I’ve never been to Japan, and it clearly shows.  
> 2\. I am trying to be respectful of Japan’s culture, so forgive me for any inconsistencies that slipped past editing. I do have to say that doing research while writing this made me want to visit the places mentioned in the story. :3  
> 3\. I mean no disrespect to George Morikawa, but I have a few sins to confess. Mainly, that I have NOT read the entire series (I think I stopped somewhere around chapter 700 and some spotty checking pre-Woli fight to current?) and what I have read was because of pirated scanlations. I know I wrote some plot points that seem like they’re pinched from later in the series, but it’s hard to do research when my source of scanlations gets taken down for copyright violations. I swear, if I could buy the first 300 chapters, I would.  
> 4\. In case you can’t tell, I have an aversion to the Itagaki family. I wouldn’t blame you if you drew parallels between Jun and Manabu.  
> 5\. (SPOILER!) It wasn’t until after I had finished the story that I realized Jun is practically an expy of King from Art of Fighting/KOF series. (facepalm) The realization was made worse after reading the wiki, stating that Ryo Sakazaki was her love interest. I shipped the wrong Ryo…  
> 5B. It wasn’t until recently that I discovered who Ruby Rose is. Holy guacamole, she looks like Jun if Jun wore make up and had a boatload of tattoos.  
> 6\. (EXPLICIT CONTENT WARNING!) Uh… yeah, I wrote smut for chapter 19. (shrugs) In my defense, how many times do naked guys and sex jokes show up canonically in the Hajime No Ippo series? (waggles finger a la Phoenix Wright)  
> 7\. (ANOTHER CONTENT WARNING!) I do admit, the flow of the story is heavy on the menstruation topic. (rimshot)  
> 8\. I was told by a certain person not to post this online. My finger slipped. :P Blame it on quarantine.

_That doesn’t sound like birds._

The subconscious notion swirled to the front of Jun’s brain and woke her up from a sound sleep. The sun was only hinting at the horizon when she poked her head out of her small tent, pitched under a bridge on the outskirts of Tokyo. Still groggy, it took a few seconds to process what she was actually hearing. Up higher on the river bank next to the road, a lone silhouette paced his breathing in between jabs and hooks, ducking and weaving from an invisible foe. _Huh. I guess going for a morning jog isn’t enough for some people around here,_ Jun thought to herself.

She pulled herself back into the tent and slid into the folded, decrepit blanket serving as a sleeping bag. _He looks busy. If he comes back later, maybe I can ask for a five hundred yen piece for some food._ Her eyelids closed, but the complete exhaustion that allowed her an unhindered sleep on the grass-padded incline was gone. Whiffs and grunts echoed down the lonesome bank and pricked at her ears like a familiar tune. Eventually, the shadow boxer moved on, but Jun’s brain, as well as her guts were now awake with frustration. “I just HAD to think about food, didn’t I?”

Her morning routine wasn’t much different than usual, simply earlier than she would have liked. She put on her sweat pants, grabbed her sauce pan and disposable lighter, and set down by the river to scrounge for firewood. A broken pallet was more than welcome, and helped get her drinking and bathing water up to a nice, sanitizing boil. While she waited, she took the red piece of yarn tying back her oily bed hair and tied it to the paperclip hook on her makeshift fishing pole. Casting, waiting, casting again. When it seemed like half of her water had boiled away, she finally got a bite… and the fish on the other end was not worth more than a couple. Regardless, it was her breakfast with some roadside clovers and fennel. Back into the tent, she portioned the water into a worn out plastic sports bottle and used the rest for brushing her teeth and wiping down. With Autumn in full swing, it was getting more difficult to wash up in the mornings. After changing into her second set of clothes, she packed up everything into a large duffel bag.

Climbing up to the spot where she saw the shadow boxer, she noticed that the grass was worn down and a large dirt patch sprawled underneath an unremarkable tree. “Well, if he comes here this often, that’s good news for me.” She started her hike towards the busier part of the city, taking a swig of water along the way. “Unless he wants to use my face for practice...”

The day came and went, with about as much success as she could hope for; three hundred and fifty yen for the whole day, old bread still wrapped in bags found in a bakery dumpster, pilfered soy and sugar packets, two refills of water at public bathrooms, plenty of dirty looks, five instances of slurs slung her way, and two instances of rough handling. It was a long hike back to the bridge.

Angrily eating the unspoiled parts of the bread, she fumed at how much of a weak, cowardly parasite she had become, unable to find work or even panhandle. Standing at the water’s edge, she looked to the stars to help ease the irritation. Her wandering eyes moved from the sparkling constellations to her reflection in the water. Tagawa Junko. Her mom altered her name to Jun early on, meaning “obedient,” which she was anything but. At first, it was Jun’s insatiable penchant for asking questions as a child, evolving into sassing backtalk, carrying over into direct misbehavior, and then finally erupting into full blown delinquency into her teen years. Despite running away before graduating high school and living a nomadic life for close to two years, the seething raw piss and vinegar that used to run in her veins had humbled some in the face of reality, but not nearly enough. The memory of the shadow boxer’s movements played back in her mind’s eye. She couldn’t resist trying to imitate his form. She always wanted to know how to professionally fight, but people only laughed at her desire to get hurt, and yet those same laughing people had no problem putting bruises on her skin when they got angry.

Everything about Jun’s physical appearance could be summed up as “stringy,” from her chestnut brown shoulder length hair to her calloused, bony feet. She still had some muscle showing under her tightened skin, but her chest and hips had to sacrifice what little pubescent growth she had accumulated in favor of survival. Imagining all of the snide looks from passerby earlier, she threw a punch at every single face she could recall. The more she swung, the more she got into it until her hair started whipping into her face.

“I think it’s time for a trim.” Back in her tent, she dug around in her toiletries bag for a small comb and her knife. With some adjustments to her yarn hair tie and everything slicked back, she made quick work turning the pony tail into a nubby stump. As she did with all of her self-made haircuts, she scattered the strands to the wind. _It just keeps getting thinner,_ she thought to herself as the current carried away the sienna threads. Looking once again at her reflection, the shadows caught at her hollowed cheekbones. _**I**_ _keep getting thinner. To think that the girls back at school would be envious of my weight._ Her eyes glazed slightly as she watched the hair drift off out of view, the current ripples toying with the last of the twilight sun. A grim realization settled on her soul like a lightning bug, sending out a subtle warning beacon. “I’m not going to survive the winter like this, am I,” she said to herself, needing to hear the message out loud. She checked her surroundings, went back to the tent for a bar of soap and her spare clothes, and secluded herself under the bridge to do laundry before going to bed.

The sound of timed breathing and fists whiffing through the air was her alarm clock. She didn’t want to waste this opportunity. She got out of the tent wearing yesterday’s sweat pants and t-shirt, quickly smoothed out the bedhead and as many shirt wrinkles as she could before casually approaching the man.

“Good morning! Nice weather, isn’t it?”

The man halted for a second, unsure if he was being addressed. Once Jun’s grubby shoes scuffed through the dirt, he whirled around to look at her, rather surprised.

“Oh! Uh, good morning!” He gently bowed.

For the first time in a long while, Jun didn’t have too much trouble putting on a smile and stuck out her hand as a polite gesture. “I’m Tagawa Jun. Nice to meet you. You are..?”

“M-Makunouchi Ippo. Pleased to meet you!” He shook her hand and bowed again.

“Sorry to interrupt your… um, actually, what were you doing just now? Fighting?”

Ippo’s eyes brightened and confidence came back to his voice. “Ah! I’m shadowboxing. It’s a technique that helps visualize your opponent in the ring.”

Jun’s eyebrows raised. “Oh! So you are a boxer?”

Ippo rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly grinned. “Yeah, I go to Kamogawa Gym a few blocks from here.”

Jun saw her opportunity to beg for scraps. “Wow, I’ve never been in a gym before! I’m unfamiliar with the territory around here, but I would love to visit. That is, if you could spare some change...?” Ippo’s face changed back to the unsure look from before. Something deep in the pit of Jun’s stomach made her panic at this, but she couldn’t yet pinpoint why. She waved her hands apologetically. “Or-or you could just teach me a few moves, even that could help, if you want!” She kicked up a tiny cloud of dirt to emphasize her point. “I mean, I assume it was you who wore down the grass here?”

Ippo gave a soft smile, remembering his beginner’s training. “Yeah. I can show you how it got that way.”

He walked over to the tree and gave it a thump. Jun watched intently as the leaves fell. Before her confusion set in, he demonstrated jabbing at the leaves ten times. The moment he opened his palm to reveal the collection, her eyes went wide.

“WHOA! You just—?!”

Ippo beamed at her incredulity, intimately understanding the feeling. “It’s all about keeping a light touch as you jab.”

Jun tried to imitate his pose while the last of the leaves fell. “I’ve only caught flies out of the air on rare occasion.” She grabbed one leaf just fine, but faltered at the second. He gently laughed, remembering his own sense of failure.

“No, keep your fists open like this, and then—!” He showed her the stance of relaxing the hands before executing the jab with a satisfying whoosh. “Here, try again.” Ippo thumped the tree once more and leaves sprinkled down around Jun. Her mental state shifted from trying to make conversation to focusing on learning this new technique. A spark of excitement crackled through her body, but forced her hands to relax. On her first try, she snagged 6 leaves. A sense of shock paralyzed her, wondering if she actually succeeded. She opened her palm, and sure enough, the leaves were there. It was Ippo’s turn to be wildly impressed. “Wow, you did really good!”

For the longest time, Jun had to bury her hopes and hide her aspirations in exchange for physical and social survival. Having a genuine compliment paid to her felt like pure rain hydrating the submerged seeds of happiness. Jun’s smile slowly grew wide and her eyes glistened with the tease of joyous tears.

“I… I did it! I really did it! What was it again, a jab?”

“Yup! You jab with your non-dominant hand, and then you—” Ippo punctuated his words with his fists, pivoting his body at the interruption to his sentence, “—follow it with a straight.”

Jun readjusted her stance, and imitated his moves. Her mind burned with his words, and her muscles burned with masochistic hunger. It didn’t take long for the tickle of back sweat to remind her to get moving on more important priorities.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You probably need to get back to your gym. Thank you so much for the training! I really do appreciate it!” She turned toward her tent and waved without eye contact, the excitement dulling back down to its depths. “Good luck with your boxing.”

Ippo’s conscience nagged him into speaking up, watching Jun’s clothes pull at her emaciated frame with each step.

“W… wait,” Ippo called out. Jun turned to see his concerned smile. “I have snacks and some money in my locker. Would you be willing to jog with me back to the gym?”

Normally, Jun would never follow a stranger to an unfamiliar location. Normally, she would not waste the precious energy jogging for what may amount to a candy bar and a hundred yen. However, normally she doesn’t have the spark of hope pushing away such red flags with a determined fervor.

“Of course! Just let me pack up, and I’ll be with you in a minute!”

Before Ippo could even reply, she was bounding down the bank with long strides and whipped the tent and its contents together into the duffel as if she were bugging out in a war zone. She hoisted the duffel lengthwise and puts her arms though the straps, carrying it like a backpack. Her speed and excitement caught Ippo off guard. “Ready!”

Ippo wondered if this was a mistake.

Jun wondered if this was a mistake.

Even though the sun didn’t rise much during her lesson, it felt like midday heat after the first minute Jun was jogging. Initially, she made small talk, impressing Ippo once again about how she was originally from Sendai and walked the whole distance, that the better parts of Tokyo seem nice, and a brief exclamation when Ippo told her he was a professional boxer, but the conversation became harder to maintain. They weren’t even halfway to the gym when Jun’s sweat stung at her eyes and stained her clothes. Ippo smartly decided to forego the shadow boxing intervals in favor of getting to the building quicker at Jun’s pace. He watched her carefully as she persisted through her rapid exhaustion. The journey felt like an awkward eternity for both of them. Jun was half a minute away from giving out when Ippo pointed to the building down the block.

“It’s right over there!”

Jun’s hidden reserves of energy kicked in and she bolted for the Kamogawa Gym. The last of her resolve wicked out of her upon entering the building and fell to her knees panting. Ippo entered shortly after and raced to fetch a bottle of water. Through the haze of her muddled brain, she could hear shouts concerning water and towels, as well as murmurs of curiosity.

“Here, drink this,” Ippo offered.

With the water glistening in crystal clarity below her face, she downed the whole bottle in a single breath, asking for more with her next breath. Another bottle was given to her, and within a few minutes of polishing that one off, too, her vision and hearing started to go back to normal. For the most part, she missed the details of the commotion, save for one noticeably louder, older voice demanding answers. She caught the tail end of Ippo’s defense to the man.

“I know coach, but I felt bad leaving him behind.”

Jun wondered if she still had fog in her brain from dehydration. _Did I forget to switch back to feminine speech?_

A booming voice from the other side of the crowd cemented her suspicion. “Yeah, old man! Can’t you see the boy is dying, here? He looks like hell!”

Jun glanced over to the source of the proclamation. A thick wall of beef with a pompadour was gesturing down at her. Her eyes widened at the brick shit house. Jun’s sweat glands, which were squeezed dry earlier, simultaneously let loose the water she just drank.

 _Shit. I forgot I was using masculine form!_ Jun’s mind fretted. _Well, might as well just go with it._ She slightly lowered her voice register to address the crowd. “I’m okay, I just need some more water and rest for a little while, if that’s alright with you guys.” She held up her bottle in a salute, along with a bluffing smile. Everyone looked to one side, and Jun’s gaze instinctively followed. A short, old man with a curl of gray hair betraying his bald pate squarely upon his forehead sternly contemplated the request. Once she made eye contact with him, he addressed her directly.

“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital, young man?”

Jun pulled herself up from the floor and smiled weakly. “Oh, I’m good! This just happens when I forget breakfast...” She noticed Ippo’s eyes darting to the side out of slight guilt. The old man suspected multiple breakfasts in a row missed, but let out an assenting grunt.

“Alright, you can rest on the bench at the back wall, and help yourself to our water. All I ask is that you stay out of the way of their training,” he stopped long enough to pull in a deep breath for a shout, “And the REST OF YOU, GO BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE DOING!”

The crowd dispersed, and the old man motioned to the back of the building where Jun spotted the benches next to the cooler.

“Thank you very much, I appreciate it.” Jun took a more relaxed gait, pulling the duffel off of her back before situating herself on the padded seat, briefly grossed out by the rest of her sweat pressing into her clothes.

She began taking in all the information her keen senses could collect about her surroundings. The large man has gone back to rapidly thumping a speed bag, most of the others did some form of exercise and two people sparred in a boxing ring in the middle of the floor. A couple of guys here and there talked among themselves while looking in her direction, which didn’t surprise her. The air was filled with the combined scents of vinyl, sweat, Vaseline, Pomade, and disinfectant. Satisfying sounds of boxing gloves hitting padded targets clashed with each other’s tempos. Jun couldn’t help but stare in awe of the kinetic energy filling the building. Her eyes were drawn back to Ippo talking with the old man. He bopped Ippo on the shoulder with his cane, finishing the conversation before walking back to his office. Ippo looked on as the old man left, an expression of relief crossing his face. He glanced in her direction, and waved before going over to use the jump rope. She raised her bottle in response, but continued to watch. His expression switched into intense concentration while whipping the cord past his feet.

“Wow...!” Jun contemplated trying it out herself while taking another sip of water. Her gaze wandered over to the wall, where many newspaper clippings, photos, and fight posters were framed and neatly hung. The large man, assumed to be named Takamura, was prominently shown on a few of the displays. Curious, she quickly glanced at her surroundings to make sure no one was approaching, and got up to go look at the wall of accomplishments.

KIYOSHI SLAMMED BY ROOKIE FIGHTER TAKAMURA!

TAKAMURA VS. HIRANO: A SOLID VICTORY FOR KAMOGAWA GYM!

TAKAMURA MAMORU WINS THE JAPANESE MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE!

 _The headlines sure are impressive,_ she marveled, sipping once again. Her water went down the wrong way after spotting a small clipping, torn from a magazine and taped to the wall underneath, reading, “AOKI VS USHIDA” with the mention of the winner circled in red.

After the coughing fit subsided, she wandered to Ippo’s section of the wall, which was a little smaller, but still respectable. One clipping in particular stopped her perusal and sent a chill down her spine:

MAKUNOUCHI DEFEATS MASHIBA IN EAST JAPAN ROOKIE KING TOURNAMENT FINALS!

Ippo’s opponent looked like a monster of a man. Jun couldn’t help but linger on his face, despite the frightful appearance. Something visceral stirred inside of her, a very familiar feeling that she hadn’t really felt since leaving Sendai. That feeling was cognitively dissonant with the brief but deep appreciation of the kindness that Ippo showed her. She noticed how the reflection of her hollowed eyes in the frame glass were eerily similar to the ones of the long man in the photo.

Not wanting to think about her past, she moved on to an article about Ippo’s clinching win against a ferocious looking man named Sendou Takeshi. The words slipped from her mouth in astonishment.

“All Japan Rookie King Tournament winner? A ‘bloody’ battle!?’” Reading the details of the fight tumbled the cognitive dissonance even further. The mental image of brutality coming from that nervous man’s fists seemed surreal. Movement caught her peripheral vision and startled her out of her head space. A middle aged man with a bulbous nose and bowl haircut offered her a protein bar. The raw hunger in her guts nearly made her forget her manners.

“Good morning! I’m Yagi Haruhiko, the manager.”

She accepted the protein bar and gently bowed. “Tagawa Jun. Nice to meet you.”

Yagi looked at the article she was reading. “So do you know our Ippo?”

Jun had already ripped into the packaging and had stuffed half the bar in her mouth when he asked. She took a few seconds to chew and swallow.

“No, I only talked to him today and he brought me here.” A smile tugged at her mouth. “He really is something, though!”

Yagi chuckled. “Yes, he certainly is. I heard that he was teaching you some fighting moves, too...”

Jun got more excited than she anticipated. “Yeah! I wanted to know what he was doing, so I asked him and he showed me how to do a jab and a straight!” She made the motions to match the words.

“Oh! So you’re interested in boxing?”

It finally clicked in her mind why the manager was talking to her. Knowing full well that membership rates were a thing—especially in a place like Tokyo – even if she could panhandle remotely well, she still wouldn’t be able to cover the cost AND eat. Despite the looming dread of having to answer honestly, there was still that nagging voice in the back of her head telling her to take a chance anyway.

“I’m interested, but I don’t think I could afford it here … You wouldn’t happen to have a work-to-pay program, would you?”

Yagi had that sympathetic look and the same flat smile used for mandatory cordiality. “Unfortunately, no. We need monthly payments of five thousand yen from each member to keep the lights on and the equipment in good shape.”

Despite all the water she drank, Jun’s throat dried up. _Five thousand yen? Per month!?_ The amount was huge by her current standards, but small enough that the nagging voice persisted.

“Oh. Sorry, but I’m new in town and I haven’t found steady employment yet. Maybe I can try later?”

Yagi’s smile returned back to genuine. “Of course. Whenever you’re ready, feel free to come back.” He handed her two more protein bars he had hidden in his jacket pocket. “In the meantime, I can give you a tour and you can try out our facilities as a free trial for the week.”

An exalting chorus erupted in Jun’s brain at this unexpected boon. “Th-thank you!!”

Yagi escorted her to the locker room where she could store her duffel in the meantime. Jun followed in a grateful daze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were some things I researched about Japan, and other things I either gave a cursory glance at reading about, or I did no research at all. I have no idea if there’s roadside fennel in Japan like there is in the states, or what part of Tokyo the gym is supposed to be at, and so forth. Part of me wonders how difficult it would have been to backpack around Japan in the 90’s.


	2. LYING UNDER THE STARS

“Just return the lock and key back to my office at the end of the week,” Yagi stated while Jun secured her belongings. He led her around the corner to the showers. “You can use our showers after routines. Just make sure you bring your own soap and take it with you when you’re done.”

The sight of the showers felt like a blessing and a curse. Different strategies played out in her head, but forced herself to keep focus.

“...Right. Of course.”

Yagi misread her, assuring her of a concern she didn’t even think of.

“Don’t worry about matching the routine of our professionals. Find out what your limits are, and you can build up from there.” Yagi led her out of the locker rooms and around the building, stopping to point out the different bags and their uses, the sparring ring, the weights, and jump ropes. During the tour, Takamura couldn’t resist opening his mouth.

“Oi, Yagi-chan! What are you doing, trying to recruit the kid as a flyweight?”

“Possibly! This is Tagawa Jun, and he’s interested in joining in the near future!”

Takamura stopped his rhythm with the speed bag long enough flex his arm. “Tagawa, huh? Looks like you’d only have to sneeze to develop newbie gains! Bahahaha!”

Jun offered a weak smile, but something about this guy rankled her.

Returning around to the offices, The old man stood by the door with the same glowering look from earlier.

“Tagawa Jun, this is the lead coach and gym owner, Kamogawa Genji,” Yagi motioned between them. Jun politely bowed, but Kamogawa didn’t move.

“How are you feeling, kid?”

She nodded happily. “Much better now, thanks.”

“Any dizziness? Heart rate feels normal?”

The last thing she wanted was any chance for word of her existence to leak back to Sendai, including hospital visits with invasive questions. Jun pressed a few fingers to her throat to make her words convincing. “No, and same as usual...”

Kamogawa walked her over to a punching bag and tapped it with his cane. “Do you know anything about boxing?”

“Not much. Just what little Makunouchi-san showed me on the way here.”

Kamogawa tossed her a pair of training gloves. “Show me what you can do.”

Jun was not expecting to do something like this today. Regardless, she put on the gloves, stepped up to the heavy bag, and thought about the combination from earlier. She tried to imitate the motions, but the sounds from the bag were limp and unsatisfying. The sensation of her fists making contact had bubbled up an old memory of the first time she snapped; A bully and her catty friends thought that cornering her in the school bathroom would put Jun in her place. It was the first time she was called “Himomame-kun,” or little string bean, and it was the first time she had ever fought back. She stepped in closer to the bag, remembering how she put a foot right to the bully’s stomach. Her fists hit the bag with slightly more resounding punches, envisioning bruised and broken faces with sadistic glee. She gained a sense of confidence, knowing that this time her punches won’t just slide off from the blood slick forming on swollen cheeks. Rude language muttered under her breath.

A cane handle hooked onto her elbow and nearly threw her off balance. Snapping out of the blood lust, she looked over at the coach’s judging features. He pulled her arm close and tugged her sleeve up over her shoulder.

“It’s no surprise, but malnutrition has robbed you of muscle tissue. You still have some grit, though. Focus on gradually increasing your protein intake – GRADUALLY. Exercise the muscles in your body at separate intervals; legs, core, arms, back.” He tapped the curve of his cane at every spot he was talking about. “There are diet and routine pamphlets by the door. Don’t waste any more energy here until you’ve looked them over.” Kamogawa delivered a parting message while putting on mitts. “One last thing: no one here is your mother. It is your responsibility to take care of your health… and to watch your mouth.”

Jun removed the gloves and set them back on the rack. She looked once more across the gym. At that moment, Takamura was making a loud fuss in the back, messing around with two other gym members who were yelling at him. Even from that distance, Jun could hear every emasculating insult and dirty remark. Jun was far from a prude, but considering what the coach just told her, she coldly understood that she wasn’t at the bottom of the totem pole here; she—now, he – was the dirt underneath it and easily trodden.

It was still in the AM hours, and everyone was getting into the thick of their training when Jun decided to heed the coach’s advice. In the quiet locker room, Jun turned the key in the lock, but stopped. _It IS quiet in here. With nobody around…_

Jun peeked around the corner into the open showers. They were completely empty. She peeked out the door. Everyone was absorbed in their activities. She looked over at the towel cabinet and clenched her jaw.

_Well, you never got anywhere playing it safe._

Almost as if hearing a gun shot at the starting line, she darted over to the towels and grabbed what she needed. Wheeling around the corner, she stopped at her locker and whipped the lock off with the key still in it. Shoes, shirt, pants, waist wallet, and underwear flew off and into the locker in rapid succession. Holding the washcloth over her crotch with one hand and a courtesy arm across her chest holding the soap, she halted in front of the mirror for a brief second, startled at who she thought was another man. Only the relief that it was her reflection fully registered as she hurried along. She grabbed the first shower around the corner and cranked the water to full blast. The warm shower felt like an indulgent luxury. Unfortunately, since Jun saw no point in shaving, certain parts had to be scrubbed a little longer than others. She was finishing up the rinse when the doors slammed open, nearly bursting her heart out of her chest. Instinctively in one motion, she turned the water off and whipped around the corner. She didn’t have enough time to completely make it before the two men who were yelling at Takamura earlier came past the door and headed for the long sink. Their preoccupation with not barfing on the floor let Jun escape mostly unnoticed.

“Uuugh. I thought he was in a better mood,” the smaller man lamented, wiping the spit from his mouth.

“Aoki, do you really think he would forgive and forget last weekend so easily? I don’t know why I had to get in the crossfire, though...”

“That’s because you were laughing your ass off after hearing the rest of his story!”

“I didn’t think he’d notice. He was too busy chasing you.”

A soft clink of a locker closing interrupted the two. They looked at each other for a moment. Jun, having quickly dressed, duffel in hand, and slicking the wet hair out of her face, she nearly collided with the two men.

“Heeey, newcomer! Just what do you think you’re doing?” The smaller guy pressed a tough attitude.

Jun froze like a deer in the headlights. Kamogawa’s words rang loud and clear in her ears; _Watch your mouth..._

“…Leeeeaving?” Her eyebrow raised a little more than her unsure voice.

The man slapped her across the shoulder. “Go put your towels in the hamper first!”

The blow had Jun nearly tumbling completely across the floor, stopping herself in a kneeling position. The blood rushed to her ears as she clenched her anger tightly between her teeth.

“Ssss...sorry...” The word growled out through the deeper register of her alto voice.

She turned around to retrieve the towels. The two looked at each other, then followed her.

“Damn! You really are a flyweight, aren’t you!” The smaller man raised his hand. “I’m Aoki Masaru, one of the top fighters here.”

The other man elbowed Aoki in jest. “Yeah, just not one of the top winners.”

Aoki shot him a dirty look as the man greeted Jun as well. “I’m Kimura Tatsuya.”

She gathered the towels and threaded in between them. “Tagawa Jun,” she paused after tossing in the laundry, realizing that they meant no harm, “… but you can call me Himomame-kun.” She ran out before they could respond.

Even though Jun flew through a lot of situations in life by the seat of her pants, she still preferred to have a plan in place. However, she couldn’t bring herself to scrounge in alleyways like a rat today. Instead, she opted for one of the nearby parks in hopes of foraging for edible flora. After finding a secluded spot to camp, she started plotting her course.

“First off, food.” Jun pulled out the nutrition pamphlet and gave it a cursory read. In frustration, she tossed it in her bag, realizing that the meal plans were for people with kitchens and money. There was one recurring word from the pamphlet that snagged a mental thread; protein. Her experience with backpacking in the mountains taught her that insects were high in protein. The hours passed, and she had collected enough crickets to boil and mash into a paste to last her for a few days. She gulped down her serving of cricket paste while parceling the rest into sakura leaves as she contemplated the next part of the plan. _I need to make contacts fast so I can find a job, get some money, replace my lost clothes, and get a place to stay before winter hits. The gym is my best bet so far, so I have to keep up appearances there for a week and figure out how to get on their good side…_ Jun angrily frazzled her hair. _Keep up appearances!? I nearly got caught earlier! There’s no way they’re going to let a girl use their showers!!_ Jun slid her hands down her face, realizing a potential solution among the nearby evergreens. “I need a disguise...”

Her experience backpacking in the mountains also taught her how to make woodcarvings. With her knife, a chunk of tree branch, fresh tree sap, and a touch of blood for coloring, she made herself a mildly convincing set of male genitals. At first, she was proud of her craftsmanship and glad that the sap held it onto the shaved patch of skin well, but further contemplation made her eyebrows knit. “What am I doing with my life??” With a pause, she shook her head free of the notion that she was any semblance of a normal human being. “Whatever. It’s just for a week, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had made a week-by-week timeline during the rough draft phase that lined up the events on the (outdated) visual timeline on the HNI wiki. According to my old notes, Jun had arrived in Tokyo early to mid-October 1992.


	3. SURVEYING THE LANDSCAPE

It wasn’t as restful of a sleep as she had hoped. Despite getting to bed early, the prosthetic pulled and itched through the night. Strangely enough, it wasn’t nearly as bothersome as her excitement for going back to the gym. Part of her wondered if it was her hibernating libido waking up, or if it was a genuine desire to start over fresh, beginning with a new hobby. When dawn’s daylight started to hint through the tent flaps, Jun decided it was time to get ready, pack up, and start forming connections with her newfound friend. Heading back to the spot by the bridge, she decided to try the leaf practice again while waiting for company to arrive. She couldn’t even catch a single leaf; not that she could even try, since she lacked the heft to give the tree a startling shake. While contemplating on climbing the damn thing to shake the branches, she recognized the footsteps approaching in the distance.

“Ah, Makunouchi-san! Good morning!” Jun waved to the man of the hour. Ippo smiled in a befuddled manner.

“Hello! Tagawa-san, right?”

“Correct!” Jun nodded her head in confirmation. She pulled her duffel across her back and started keeping pace with Ippo.

“Wait, so you’re coming back to the gym!?” Ippo’s genuine surprise made Jun a little wary.

“Yagi-san offered me a week’s trial, and I looked over the pamphlets Kamogawa-san gave me. I also had breakfast this time!” She smiled genuinely before lowering an eyebrow. “Why, was there something else I had to do?”

“Well, it’s been a while since we had new recruits, and usually they drop out after finding out how tough it is.”

Jun grinned. “Yeah, it does look tough, but, I won’t know what I can do until I push my limits.”

Ippo liked the sound of determination, but was still nervous. “D-don’t push yourself too hard!” There was an awkward pause as he tried to redirect the conversation. “… So, are you joining the gym as a continuous member, or are you aiming to become a professional boxer?”

Jun looked over in flattered surprise and gave a short laugh. “Eheh! Neither, since I can’t afford the monthly fee. If I could though, then I would definitely become a regular member! Right now, it’s hard to see myself becoming a professional boxer...” Jun started to regulate her breathing to accommodate the jogging pace.

“I didn’t see myself as one either a few years ago, but here I am!” Ippo’s excitement prompted him into a dash. Caught off guard, Jun tried to catch up, her duffel thumping the back of her head with each step. She switched to carrying the duffel under her arm and sped up. Finally catching up to him, Ippo came to a halt to do shadow boxing. Going too fast, Jun slid underneath one of Ippo’s swings and cushioned the landing with the duffel.

“Ahhh! Sorry! I should have warned you about that.”

Jun stood up, but a flapping sound grabbed her attention. Pulling off a shoe, the sole had peeled down the side, now providing the biggest hole out of all the others on it.

“Aah! I’m so sorry!!” Ippo fretted while Jun looked at it as if it were just untied shoelaces.

“Is there any glue or tape at the gym?”

“I-I never thought to check, but we probably have something that could fix it...”

Jun hoisted the bag back under her arm and pulled the other shoe off.

“I’ll meet you there!” Jun took off like a shot barefoot down the road. Ippo couldn’t believe his eyes at how starkly different Jun seemed from yesterday.

Ippo entered the building not long after. He looked around, but only saw that the guest nameplate had been moved to the check-in side of the pegboard. Both Jun and Yagi-san exited the stairwell door, with the shoes freshly wrapped with electrical tape. Ippo came trotting over.

“You’re alright! I thought you were going to collapse again!”

Jun squared off her shoulders, half grinning. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m not THAT weak! As long as I stay hydrated, I should be good.”

Ippo’s relieved grin was cut short by the sting of Kamogawa’s cane across his back. “BRAT! You’re not here to talk up the newbies. Go do your jump ropes!”

“Yes, Coach!” Ippo scrambled out of the way. Kamogawa approached the refreshed Jun.

“You’re looking better today. Did you review the routine pamphlet?”

“Yes, Coach!” Jun pulled the pamphlet from her pocket.

“Good. Do three sets of each arm exercise at ten reps per set, or until fatigue sets in. Report back to me when you’re finished.”

“Yes, Coach!” Jun gave a slight bow and headed toward the weight sets.

While Jun started off with the smallest weights, Aoki, Kimura, and Takamura congregated on the opposite side of the gym to press Ippo on the situation.

“So, your scrawny friend came back. Don’t tell me he’s your new replacement for Geromichi,” Takamura leaned in with a sarcastic Cheshire grin.

“No, it’s not like that! He just followed me, like a lost dog...” Ippo scratched idly at his cheek.

“He looks like he washed up on the docks, poor kid,” Kimura speculated. “At best, I’d give him ten minutes.”

“Aw, give Himomame-kun a chance! He could last for a whole day, you never know!” Aoki smirked.

“Oh yeah, he did say to call him that!” Kimura brightened.

“H-himomame? Are you serious?” Ippo could never be sure when these guys were telling the truth or not.

Takamura gave a hearty laugh. “That’s accurate! If he manages to build muscle, it’ll poke out like beans in a pod, too!” He flexed his index fingers to represent Jun’s arms.

“So does anyone want to take bets on how long he lasts?” Kimura suggested.

“Why bother? I heard Himomame-kun was only here on a week’s trial,” Aoki flatly stated, remembering the last time he had to bet on the dark horse – and won, complete with a punch to the face – was reluctant to relive that disaster.

Takamura’s eyes twinkled. “Well, that just narrows the focus! Let’s start with 1000 yen each. Whoever is closest to the target wins the pot. I say he lasts two days, starting today. Kimura claimed ten minutes, so that starts… three minutes ago.”

“Aw, man...” Kimura regretted the remark as he wrote down details in his notebook.

“And if Himomame-kun lasts the full week’s trial, Aoki treats us to free ramen,” Takamura nodded his assurance.

“How is that supposed to be my winning bet!?” Aoki huffed.

Takamura wrapped his huge arm around Aoki’s neck, putting him in a headlock. “Be respectful to Himomame-kun! If he manages to last that long, he deserves a celebratory meal!”

Aoki sputtered out a response before Takamura executed a back breaker. “But that doesn’t explain free ramen for everyone else...”

Kimura punctuated the notes with a hard tap of his ballpoint. “What about you, Ippo?”

“I-I don’t want to have anything to do with this!” Ippo waved his hands in a “no” signaling fashion.

Takamura let go of Aoki to lean in uncomfortably close with a pointed finger in front of Ippo’s nose.

“Ah-ah! You get a special variance in this bet. Since you brought him in, your bet has a multiplier on it, starting with seven times the wager starting today, working your way down to base bet on the last day.”

“That’s not fair!” Ippo lamented.

“It’s plenty fair! In fact,” Takamura stood up straight to prepare for the final point, “the starting wager will be ten times instead of seven if his dick is the same size as yours.” His obnoxious grin widened with the spreading of his palms.

Ippo face-faults at this notion, wondering why Takamura always has to fixate on a dick measuring contest. The other two tried to stifle their laughter.

“Fine, but everyone has to leave Tagawa-san alone! No sparring, bullying, or anything else to scare him away!”

The three look at each other, figuring that this was as agreeable as it could get.

“Alright. It’s a deal,” Takamura donned a suspicious smirk.

“One last thing; If he does last the week, the money goes to his entrance fee. He said he couldn’t afford it, but wishes he could,” Ippo told them with a serious but worried look.

“Ah, you’re so noble, Ippo!” Aoki said in a thick sappy tone while crossing his arms.

“Hey, Himomame-kun’s already done with weight lifting...” Kimura noticed, putting away his notebook.

“OOOIII! HIMOMAME-KUN! OVER HERE!” Takamura yelled, rattling the group and especially Ippo.

Jun looked over with as much enthusiasm as she would for eating wet toast. Regardless, she squared her shoulders, clenched her jaw shut, and assumed a neutral facial expression while approaching the group.

“It’s your lucky day! Ippo’s offering to be your trainer for the week!” Takamura roughly patted Ippo on the back. “You’ll be the new Geromichi!”

Aoki and Kimura gave a cheesy thumbs-up. Jun has no idea what’s going on.

“Good luck, Ippo! Make sure Himomame-kun grows big and strong! Buahahaha!” Takamura left while flexing his index fingers, with Kimura and Aoki waving before returning to their own routine.

“I’m sorry about them, Tagawa-san. Just try to ignore them as much as you can.”

“That Takamura guy is going to be a challenge to ignore. Who’s Geromichi, though?”

Ippo rubbed his arm and looked to the side. “Oh, they mean Naomichi. he was one of the new recruits that trained here not long ago. He threw up a lot, so those guys gave him that nickname.”

“Yeah, I figured I would get called something here, so I decided to pick the one from school. I’m actually glad it’s sticking, because I’ve been called far worse things,” she gritted a smile through the rough memories.

Throughout the day, Jun went back and forth between reporting to Kamogawa and following Ippo’s lead to the best of her ability. Even with a lunch break in the middle of the day, she had to take long, frequent stops punctuated with rude language under her breath for her routine. Overall, she was happy enough making progress with her goals. The sun was starting to dip in the sky when Jun was finally allowed to call it a day.

“Let’s hit the showers!” Takamura’s words cut through her sense of relief, and she could feel his slimy aura creeping up behind her. She turned around quickly, having her suspicions confirmed with Takamura three steps away from crushing her in a one-armed bear hug. “Come on, Himomame-kun! Don’t be shy! We all need to feel refreshed from a hard day’s work!”

Only the word “refreshed” had any kind of sway on her. Takamura wasn’t fazed by Jun’s death glare, but Ippo’s look of disapproval begrudgingly reminded him that he had to keep his distance for the bet. Still, he was pleased enough that he was now 1000 yen closer to victory. He simply laughed and walked through the doors.

“I actually don’t have time for a shower right now...” Jun confided to Ippo. “I’ll get washed up after dinner, if that’s okay.”

Before Ippo could answer, Aoki clapped a hand on Jun’s shoulder. “Sorry, Himomame-kun. No offense, but you reek. Bad.”

“If it’s modesty you’re worried about, it’s okay! We won’t judge you...” Kimura clapped his hand on Jun’s other shoulder. The two of them grinned and snickered before Jun slipped out from under their grasps, storming towards the locker rooms.

“Tagawa-san, you don’t have to—” Ippo caught the double glares in his peripheral vision.

“Are you actually afraid that he’s going to be BIGGER than you?” Kimura joked with incredulity.

Inside the locker rooms, Jun’s curt pace was drained of all aggression and stopped dead in front of the handful of other gym members in varying degrees of nudity. Granted, Jun was not a stranger to the nude male physique, but it still didn’t nullify the shock of seeing three different sets of cock and balls haloed by a thatch of pubic hair. Keeping her eyes on the tile floor, she carefully maneuvered to her locker. She untied her makeshift waist wallet from under her shirt, which housed her lock key, her knife, and all the money to her name. Gripping tightly to the wallet, she closed her eyes and breathed deep. Her ears tracked the men as they moved on to the showers. She took one more deep breath and fished around for her key. Loud shouting that erupted past the slamming doors ruined her concentration.

“KIMURA-SAN, THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM, I SWEAR!” Ippo paused his protesting as the three of them stopped at the front of the lockers. Jun had dropped her wallet, sending the knife tumbling across the tile.

After a brief moment, the three form a tight huddle.

“Ippo, why didn’t you tell us the kid had a knife!? He could be a thief or a murderer or something!” Aoki hissed out a whisper.

“It’s news to me, too!” Ippo flustered the words out, catching on to Aoki’s panic.

“Be careful, Ippo! He may look like a wimp, but he’s probably gutted guys far bigger than us!” Kimura couldn’t help but sarcastically feed into the nonsense.

“Is something wrong?” Jun’s voice made Ippo flinch.

“Just your little toy there...” Kimura casually pointed to the blade that Jun had put away.

Realizing the problem, Jun pulled it back out to show it to them. “Oh, this? I use it for camping! It even has a secret compartment in the handle that I use to store matches! See?” She gave a genuine smile, handing it over to Kimura for a closer examination. It was a huge risk for her to do such a thing, but she was hoping the action of good faith would pay dividends later. Kimura unscrewed the end of the hilt and pulled out a single match. Everyone felt a sense of relief.

“Ah, that explains the tent!” Ippo exclaimed with naivete.

Jun rubbed the back of her head. “Heheh! Yeah, I can’t help it. I love the outdoors.” Her expression became more embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I forgot I stashed it in my wallet. I’ll keep it locked up from now on.”

Kimura handed the knife back. “That thing is sharp!”

“Yeah, that’s the whole point.” Jun’s snark wasn’t taken the way she’d hoped, and cleared her throat while putting it away. “Believe it or not, it’s much safer that way. I can always trust it to cut into wood or fish without sliding off and into my thumb.” She gave said thumb a wiggle to cement in their cringe at the thought. The guys decided to continue the small talk while getting undressed. Jun steeled herself for the unpleasant task of following suit.

“Tell me about it! How often have you nicked yourself?” Aoki flexed the scars on his own hands after taking off his shirt.

“A lot, but I’ve been lucky enough to never hit bone.” Jun discreetly checked to make sure her prosthetic was still in place. Nervously, she removed her shoes and pulled off her underwear along with her pants. “Uh, I’ve been camping for a while by myself, so I’m not used to showering with other people around...” She quickly wrapped a towel around her hips. “It’s… embarrassing, so I’d rather wear a towel in, if that’s okay.”

Ippo, still facing his locker while getting undressed, laughed off the remainder of his nerves. “Of course! Lots of people cover themselves!”

Aoki chuckled and jutted his thumb at Ippo. “Including this guy when he first joined on!”

Kimura smirked, packing the dirty clothes separate from his clean set. “Yeah, Ippo had to use an extra large towel to hide his massive dong.” He turned around towards Jun. “You wouldn’t happen to be hiding something like that – ” he faltered at seeing the ribs, shoulder blades, and vertebrae showing under Jun’s skin. The hesitation lingered at the sight of utter lack of fat and muscle that left gaps of hanging skin on the back of her thighs. A lump formed in Kimura’s throat, preventing him from saying anything else. Ippo and Aoki weren’t long in joining him in stunned horror.

“No… not in the huge sense.” Jun faced them, puffing out her ribcage for a more Y-shaped figure. She was hoping that any of her blushing would be attributed to her next move. “I knew I would get mocked for it, so I’ll come out and say it; It’s tiny.”

She opened the towel long enough for a single second glance at the prosthetic, just under two inches long in total and thoroughly shrouded by hair.

All three of their jaws dropped as Jun whipped the towel back around her hips. She strode past them with soap and washcloth in hand. Aoki and Kimura were fighting a losing battle with the giggles. Jun hadn’t even cleared the lockers before they started whooping with laughter. It was only at this point that Jun realized she didn’t have a plan B if this failed. She stopped, and listened closely.

“You were worried he was bigger!!” Kimura absolutely lost it.

“I WAS NOT!” Ippo cried out.

“Lookout, Ippo! You’ve got some COM-PE-TI-TION!” Aoki doubled over, slapping his thigh.

Ippo stood there, fuming that they would be so blatantly insensitive. “TAGAWA-SAN IS RIGHT THERE!!”

Jun smiled, immensely relieved that the plan worked. She turned the corner to grab a shower that allowed her the most privacy. The other three followed in not long after.

From behind the locker partition, Takamura slowly poked his head into view.

Jun hung her courtesy towel over the shower head and turned on the faucet. She was thankful that her conversation allowed a buffer for most of the gym members to finish up and leave right as she was getting started. While lathering up, her eyes darted toward the shower entrance. It was Aoki and Kimura, followed by Ippo, chiding the two who were still caught up in a laughing fit. Ippo was wearing his courtesy towel, which was probably why they were still gabbing about the situation. Jun relaxed and washed under her armpits, also thankful that her unshaven status probably contributed to the ruse. Working down her back and ribs, a chill ran down her length, freezing her in place as a chiseled wall of beef walked into her peripheral vision. The man stood inches away from her, facing the next shower head. Jun forced her eyes forward and her hands to keep moving. It felt like a ghost had appeared next to her, the kind that if you look at them or acknowledge their existence in any way, you’re instantly dead. Suddenly, a sense of dreaded panic flashed in her mind at the thought of the hot water melting the sap and letting the prosthetic loudly clack on the tile floor. She hurried to work her way down her legs, but the moment her hips tilted from running the washcloth down her raised calf, A pompadour leaned its way into her peripheral vision. It was too much for her to take. She swiped the washcloth down her other leg, violently cranked the water off, and whipped the towel down and around her middle all in a fast, smooth motion before making a wide circle behind the personal space intruder, muttering rude language the whole way.

Mid-lather, Aoki, Kimura, and Ippo took notice of the angry slaps of wet feet punctuating the air. At first they saw the angry little twig rounding the corner, and then they saw Takamura, stock still at the shower.

“Takamura, what the hell did you do?!” Aoki shouted.

The man didn’t move for a good five seconds. Finally, Takamura laughed so hard that it turned high pitched and squeaked out of his lungs. He couldn’t get any words out, only guffaws as he tried to show them a finger and thumb almost pinching together. Ippo lowered his eyelids in dull acceptance as the other two started up their giggle fit again.

Jun quickly dried off, accidentally bumping the wooden prosthetic, causing the sap to pull at the skin. Although it was proof that there was no threat of it falling off, the pain did not help help her calm down. She flung the towel to the side and wrestled her clean set of clothes over her wet frame. Now fully dressed, she halted at the unzipped opening to her duffel, seeing the leaf parcels of cricket paste tucked neatly into a plastic container. Her stomach held her hostage, refusing to let her move until she had something to eat. She grabbed two parcels, figuring that she earned it with the day’s workout. Stuffing one into her mouth, she focused on gathering her belongings and locking the door shut. Halfway out of the locker room, the sound of wet feet matched her own walking tempo. As much as she tried to slip out after dropping the towels in the hamper, once again the massive pain in her ass blocked her way, not even bothering with a courtesy towel.

“Himomame-kun! We should just start calling you ‘Mame-kun’ for short—!!” Takamura went back to wheezing out laughter realizing his last-second double entendre. Jun stood there, staring at his face as she slowly incorporated saliva into the wad of cricket paste in her mouth.

Recovering from his fit quickly, he noticed the sakura leaves. “Ah, having a post workout snack? What is that, azuki paste?”

In the brief second she had to think of a response, her spite reflex kicked in.

She offered the remaining paste to Takamura, nodding her head with a smile.

“Oh? Heeey, thanks, Himomame-kun! You’re a good sport!” Takamura accepted the offering.

“No hard feelings,” Jun said in the gentlest but still masculine voice she could muster. She took the opportunity to duck under his arm and leave.

The other three wandered over right as Takamura popped the entire lump of paste into his mouth.

“What was that all about?” Kimura wondered.

Takamura got his words out while wrestling with the thick paste. “Oh! Mmmheheh! Mmm, I guess Mame-kun is cool with it. He even gave me some of his azuki!”

Aoki looked sickened. “You took food from a starving man?”

Takamura gulped down the paste to adequately defend himself. “HEY! He OFFERED it to me, I didn’t steal it from him!” He smacked his lips and furrowed his brow. “It wasn’t even good azuki, so I actually did him a favor.”

Ippo gave him a disdainful look. “Takamura-san, you weren’t supposed to interfere! From now on, just leave him alone, please?”

The group split off to their respective lockers. Takamura refused to give up the last word. “I was just having a friendly chat and being respectful, unlike some of you losers...” Takamura finished with a knuckle drilling into Kimura’s back muscle.

“AAGH! That hurts! Did it occur to you that maybe the kid’s choices are be respectful, or get used as a toothpick?”

“That just means the kid is smart, too,” Takamura said smugly.

“He’s smart-mouthed. It’s a good thing he didn’t pull that knife on you,” Kimura was being half facetious.

A brief silence hung in the air surrounding Takamura’s confusion. “What knife?”

Jun plodded along the road, the sun setting behind her.

“Damn, that was a long day.” Her list of things to do ran together in her mind. “Need some more food, water, clean clothes… Crap, I left my soap at the shower, so I can’t do laundry...” She continued to mutter to herself until her name was called out.

“Tagawa-san!” Ippo jogged over to her. “I’m sorry about those guys, they’re hopeless.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was actually expecting a lot worse.”

Ippo winced at the implication, but continued with his message. “Ah, right… Um, I wanted to let you know that I’ll be late on my roadwork this week because I’ll be helping my mom out with the business, so you can go ahead to the gym in the morning. Just ask Coach if you need any help.”

Jun was rather surprised. “Your mom has a business?”

“Yeah, it’s Makunouchi Fishing Boat, just a few miles from here,” Ippo jutted his thumb over his shoulder. Jun zoned out, thinking about how cool it was for a woman to hold a business in the big city. Ippo took the silence as a cue to politely leave. “You can stop by later, if you want to check it out. I have to get going, so have a good night, Tagawa-san!” He waved before pelting down the road in a confident jog. Simply watching him made Jun want to collapse.

Eventually arriving at the bridge, she went to her camping spot and crumpled onto the grass incline. Jun was unnerved at her sudden drop in energy. “I… need to move… I have to move!” She was too exhausted to even get angry. Everything hurt, and it felt like she was wearing sleeves of lead. There was one source of pain that was becoming increasingly and exponentially sharp. Almost like a hammer hitting the back end of a bullet, pain crushed at her stomach full blast. The shock curled her up into a fetal position and sent her gasping for air. The anxiety that her adrenaline had sidelined earlier returned with a vengeance. It pulled opposite of her staunch hunger to create a tight cramp in her stomach muscles, threatening to vomit up her cricket paste. Forcing her guts to relax with deep breaths, heavy perspiration kicked in. She argued with herself over the necessity to ration what little food she had left, but the basic need took over. Jun used all of her willpower to save herself one last paste parcel for the morning. Her stomach wasn’t quite satisfied, but it was enough for her to set up her tent under the bridge. The fatigue claimed her before she could even pull off her shoes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Originally, there was supposed to be a part where Jun nearly pulls a Geromichi on her first try at roadwork, pushing through the nausea with a profanity-laden rant. However, I found out that profanity isn’t much of a thing in Japan as it is in the US. I tried editing out as much unnecessary vulgarities as possible, but at some point, I just got lazy.  
> • I really, REALLY did not feel like going down the research rabbit hole on Japanese girls and body hair, so I chalked it up to Jun having a slightly higher testosterone level than typical girls.


	4. A LAST RESORT

The first thing Jun noticed upon waking up was that her mouth felt glued shut. The second thing she noticed was that not even rabid dogs could get her to move out of bed. Her entire body felt like a solid brick of regret. No clean clothes, no soap, one bottle of water, little food, barely any money, and no energy. Nothing. The only thing waiting for her outside the tent was a world of pain and mockery. She fell back asleep until a car buzzed over with a bad muffler. Her thoughts wandered as she stared at the seams of the tent. _What a grand visit to the big city of Tokyo cut short. It’s too bad I couldn’t even afford to explore it all. See the nightlife, go shopping, get some books, visit all of the parks…_ She forced her brain to not think about all the sushi and vending machine foods she wanted to try, but the stomach caught on and growled bitterly. _So hungry…_

She wished she could shadow box with that nagging opponent, but the closest she could imagine was that article of Ippo versus that long guy. The inset photo was from the match, showing both of their faces mashed and arms blurred from fast motion. Ippo looked worried but determined, but that long guy. He looked like the definition of desperation and hunger. It was as if Ippo had gone head-to-head with one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

_I wish I could smash in hunger’s face like that._

Something about that train of thought bugged her. To not have hunger, is to no longer live. No more desire, no more passion, no more pushing past limits and doing things she never thought possible. To not have hunger, she would have never left Sendai in the first place and explored the breathtaking beauty of Mount Gassan and Asahi, spent a winter exploring Mount Nantai near Nikko park, and the long, grueling trek zig-zagging between the countryside and the cities, eventually leading to Tokyo.

Even the blurred movement in that photo stirred something in her. She had to move. Now. Even when nothing wanted to respond. After much agonizing, Jun finally pulled herself up into a sitting position and took a deep breath. “My plan may be broken, but I’ll figure it out as I go.” She closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and straightened her posture. “Just one more try. Please, just one more. One more...”

In an unwitting bit of good sense, Jun had pitched her tent as far into the middle joint of the bridge as possible to avoid unwanted attention, instinctively suspecting that she wouldn’t have much energy to deal with even the least threatening interruptions. Crawling out from under the bridge like a withered troll, she checked the sky for an indication as to how long she slept. The sun was heavily diffused by foggy clouds, but she could still tell that it was about an hour or two past midday. The only times Jun ever slept in while on the run was when she was sick, and the red flags were starting to fly. She took some of her bottled water to brush her teeth and rinse, then drank the rest of it. With a sparse wipe down with river water and a change back into her dirty clothes, she packed up her stuff and trudged forward to the gym.

The entire way there, she fought her mind over what to do next. Doubt crept in, and with every step her body screamed at her to quit and leave the city with whatever energy she had left. In spite of this desire, Jun realized that it was not just stomach hunger she was fighting against, but rather she was stuck between two different hungers; one of the body, one of the mind. Both were clawing away at her, and this was her last chance to sate both in one move. When the building came into view, it was guilt and shame that finally swayed her realization that the mind will have no chance if the body cannot sustain it. Before approaching the door, she had one last prayer to herself. “Just one more. Just one more try. I’ll take all of the shame and leave if it comes to it, but I have to give it one more shot!” She took a deep breath and opened the door.

A few key faces as well as other regulars paused for a brief moment in surprise upon Jun’s entry. She looked over at the pegboard, and took it as a good sign that her temporary name plate wasn’t removed yet. She switched it over to the other side and could feel all eyes on her back as she slowly walked toward the lockers. Like a crack of thunder, Takamura’s voice shook her bones.

“HIMOMAME-KUN! YOU’RE BACK!” His saccharine facade was marred by the malignant determination showing through his eyes. “Can’t wait to see how well you do on a full circuit today!”

From across the room, Ippo’s timing falters on the speed bag. Aoki and Kimura exchange uncomfortable glances.

Jun completely forgot how much energy was required just to deal with the burly loudmouth, but this time all it took was that one sentence to completely drain her. Feeling dead inside, she slowly made her way to Yagi’s office and closed the door.

Yagi was at his desk, talking with someone important on the phone. At first he didn’t notice her coming in, but with mild shock upon seeing Jun, he motioned to her to hold on for a minute while he finished the call. Jun stood there quietly, the embarrassment further pushing the words, “I’m sorry, but I have to quit” up her throat and behind her lips. Her eyes wandered the office, seeing old photos, certificates, a few fishing trophies, boxes of paperwork, a TV next to a bookshelf filled with VHS tapes, and an antiquated vinyl couch. As her eyes traveled to the other side of the room, she spotted a pile of promotional items on an office chair. Within that pile, she saw her spark of hope.

“Okay, thanks. Yeah, you too, and good luck with Fukida. Heh! No problem. Talk to you later! Good bye.” Yagi hung up the phone but maintained the same cadence of professional courtesy with Jun. “Good afternoon, Tagawa-san! What can I help you with?”

Jun thought for a second, but finally spoke the words that were playing on her lips.

“…May I have another protein bar?”

Ippo quickly made his way to the other three nearby the shower doors. Aoki was the first to spill on his confusion. “WHAT THE HELL?! I thought he was gone!”

Ippo, relieved, still stammered. “I-I thought so, too!”

“It won’t be long, though.” Kimura bluntly spoke. “That kid is already spent!”

Ippo suddenly remembered Takamura’s outburst. “Takamura-san, why were telling him to do a full circuit? He’s still new!”

“And still under the bet...” Kimura finished for him. The sentence barely left him when a rabbit-punch knocked him off guard.

“It’s not my fault the kid’s late!” Takamura complained.

Inside Yagi’s office, the man smiles understandingly. “Of course!” He gets up to go grab a couple from the open box. “These were given to us by a local upstart. They offered us free samples in exchange for feedback from our athletes. Turns out there was too much sugar and not enough protein, so we ended up with most of a box just sitting here.” He tossed a couple of bars to Jun, who smartly caught them and tore into one immediately. “You can have as many as you like, just make sure you don’t—” He looked up in time to see her finish the first bar and start in on the second. “… overdo it.”

As Jun hurried to swallow in order to speak, she heard a slight commotion past the door. Suspicious, she opened it just a crack to hear and see the four idiots in the corner.

“Don’t worry, I have my limits.” While finishing her second bar, she listened closely to the conversation.

“Ippo, I hate to say this, but you may just have to take the dive on this one. It’s only 5000 yen...” Kimura’s attempt at positive thinking circled the drain.

“But Tagawa-san said he was going for the whole week!” Ippo struggled with preventing his own vessel of hope crashing against the rocks of reality.

“Words and actions don’t always match, Ippo, especially when one underestimates the difficulty of said actions! HOWEVER...” Takamura jutted his index finger at Ippo’s face like a sword. “I fully expect your words and actions to match perfectly this weekend when I come to collect!” He pulled back and wrapped his arms around Aoki and Kimura’s shoulders, threatening a dual headlock. “As for you two, feel free to pay up your side of the bet right now!”

The sight of Takamura’s pleased-as-punch grin over her life or death struggle was too much for Jun to let slide. She angrily crumpled the wrappers and tossed them in the trash before whipping the door open. The entire group looked on like dogs caught digging up a flower bed. Jun’s sunken features added a creepy vibe to her already unsettling rage glare. Stomping over with a sugar-fueled resurgence, she tossed her duffel bag at their feet.

Aoki thought he could play it cool. “Hhheeeey, Himomame-kun! Good to see you back!”

She pulled all of the money she had in her waist wallet and tossed it on top of the bag. “So, taking bets on how long I last. Count me in, then.”

“Tagawa-san, this isn’t what it looks like! Takamura—” With Ippo mentioning his name, Takamura was about to land a jab to his temple for throwing him under the bus when Jun cut him off.

“NO, I want in on this. That bag contains everything I own, save for the clothes I’m wearing. Keep the damn thing if I fail.” Jun turned on her heel and made her way to the weights. Takamura looked rather pissed about the situation, despite all but cinching his win.

The lactic acid in Jun’s muscles allayed some with the help of the protein bars, water, and continued movement. Despite the fatigue, Jun’s natural resilience kept her going for more than an hour after the sugar had burned through her system. She managed to finish a full circuit indoors before showing any major signs of slowing, but all of her movements lacked any kind of significant impact or snap. All the while, Takamura kept an eye on Jun’s progression. The worse she performed, the angrier he got. The final straw was Jun attempting combinations on the heavy bags. The empty slap of the glove on the canvas was like a dripping faucet to Takamura’s ears. He dropped his barbells to the ground with a tactless thud and marched over to the exhausted husk. Ippo was also watching closely, and hurried over after Takamura was making his intentions clear.

He grabbed Jun’s wrist after the previous jab landed. “That’s enough. Get out of here already.”

Jun slowly turned her head to face Takamura, but he wasn’t going to budge from her shadowed glare. Ippo interjected as best as he could. “T-Takamura-san you said you wouldn’t interfere...”

Takamura let go of Jun’s wrist and focused his ire onto Ippo. “Don’t give me that horseshit! If anything, you should be on MY side on this!”

Jun started tapping hits at the heavy bag again. “KNOCK IT OFF!” Takamura launched a wide swing, which Jun ducked under and the punch landed squarely on the bag, sending it forward with enough force that Jun deftly sidestepped the back swing. Takamura caught a glance of the fighting spirit burning in Jun’s eyes before the bag swung back to obscure her face.

The commotion flagged Coach Kamogawa’s attention and he approached silently out of view. Takamura’s arm shook as the humiliating rage eclipsed all of his other emotions. He dug into his pocket for whatever money he had on him and flung it at Jun, pelting at the swinging heavy bag. She paid no attention to the coins hitting her body.

“JUST TAKE IT AND GO! DISGUSTING, NASTY-ASS, —” He was about to say something along the lines of “drug-addled hobo” when Kamogawa cut in with his cane, a message that clearly stated for him to lay off and get back to work. “Tcheh!” Takamura gave a curt hand wave as a gesture of cutting himself off from this mess and walked back over to the weights. Ippo watched nervously as Kamogawa approached Jun, still listlessly tapping at the bag.

“Kid, if you’re going to be using my gym, I expect for you to give me your best efforts.” Kamogawa spoke his words as a stern warning rather than advice.

Jun gave a few more punches before giving a flat response. “I _am_ doing my best.”

The vein in Kamogawa’s forehead became more pronounced. “That’s not good enough. Go home, rest up and come back tomorrow.”

Jun put a slightly stronger effort into punching the bag repeatedly. “Sorry Coach, I can’t.”

Kamogawa hooked his cane around Jun’s arm and yanked her away from the bag. “LISTEN, BRAT! Either you go home or I’m banning you from—”

**“I DON’T HAVE A HOME!!”**

Jun’s scream made the whole gym fall silent.

Kamogawa glared at her, teeth clenched, but taking a moment to choose his words carefully. In that same moment, Jun realized what she had done and knew that it was over now. There was no longer a point to fighting anymore. Before Kamogawa could say anything, she whipped the gloves off of her hands, threw them to the ground and stormed off to the showers. Kamogawa could only grumble at his failed hindsight. Ippo finally mustered the strength to say something.

“Coach, I’m sorry, I...”

“From now on, try not to bring in any more vagrants off of the street, kid,” Kamogawa stated in a cold calmness that made Ippo’s chest tighten.

Ippo, looking down at the ground in grief, noticed the coins and bills scattered by the coach’s feet. He picked them up, much to Kamogawa’s exasperation, and quickly jaunted over to the showers. Kamogawa thought he would tell him not to bother, but the better part of his judgment told him to let it go. _I don’t want to be a heartless bastard, but this is not a place for coddling panhandlers. I just wish you would get that, kid._

Peeking into the showers, Ippo saw Jun soaking her head full blast at the deep sink. The rushing water may have obscured her tears, but it couldn’t completely block out the sound of bitter sobbing. She didn’t even notice Ippo standing forlornly in the doorway. Ippo looked at the change in his open palm, closing his fist with the wish that he could make things better.

Jun watched helplessly as the sink drain wobbled around in her vision, occasionally resetting with each fallen tear. The sound of a duffel bag hitting the floor nearly caused Jun to skin the top of her head on the sink faucet. Ippo sheepishly placed the money on top of the bag. “I… I’m sorry it couldn’t work out. I hope you keep doing your best.” Jun slicked her hair out of her face and wiped her eyes as Ippo took a moment to turn around and leave. She noticed that there was a lot more money resting on the bag than was on the floor earlier.

Realizing what he just did, she quickly turned off the water to call out to him. “Ippo, wait!” He stopped, but only barely indicated that he was listening. “Ippo… can I talk with you for a minute?”

He took a deep breath, but focused on the door in front of him. “S… sorry, but Coach needs me to get back to training.” He took two more steps, but Jun persisted.

“You said your mom had a business, Makunouchi Fishing Boat? Is she hiring?”

Ippo’s shoulders began to tremble, but he was almost to the door when Jun grabbed his arm.

“Please! I’m begging you! I need help! I just need some food, anything! I swear I’ll work my fingers bloody for it, just…!”

Ippo turned to face her, seeing her tears mesh with the water rivulets on her face. He could see true fear staring back at him as she gave her final plea. “Don’t let me die out in the cold like this!” Her voice rasped at the most critical word.

Determination surged up from the depths of Ippo’s soul. Everyone else may have seen Tagawa-san as a crazy vagrant, but he wasn’t about to turn his back when someone’s life was on the line… His father wouldn’t have it.

Ippo grasped Jun by the shoulders and gave detailed directions on how to get to his house. Quickly shaking off the shock, she repeated it correctly, and smiled with relief. “Thank you so much!”

Ippo zipped out the shower doors with a wave goodbye. “Good luck, Tagawa-san!”

The weight was still falling off of her shoulders, but she knew she had to act quickly, since Kamogawa wanted her out toot sweet. She ran back over to the sink to take as many gulps of water as she could. Fishing the locker key out of her pocket, she stopped in a moment of clarity and looked over to the showers. Her soap was still there! She scrambled over like a loony and yanked the dried bar from the wall cleft. With everything in place, she rushed out of the locker room and stopped at the front door long enough to switch her name plate back over. In that action, she looked over to Ippo with a wild grin. He smiled back as she exited, then quickly refocused after noticing Kamogawa’s suspicious look at this bizarre exchange.

Her happy jog quickly turned into an energy rationing walk. She was shaking at first with excitement, then nervousness. She replayed his instructions in her head to be on the safe side, but she still had a few questions. _What’s the work like? Do I even care at this point? More importantly… do I need identification to apply?_ Jun didn’t want to think about that at this point. If she could just hang around long enough to build a good reputation, there was hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Oh, Yagi-chan. You tried to help, but you got the poor thing strung out on sugar. No wonder they thought she was on drugs.   
>  • There is a LOT of shoulder grabbing in this whole story, by the way. And smirks.


	5. SHE’S A FIGHTER

It was nearly an hour later when Jun finally arrived. Much to her surprise, a nearly nondescript building bore the sign for the Makunouchi’s business tucked away on a dock, something she had missed twice earlier. She didn’t see a boat or anyone moving about. Jun wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved by this.

The sunset colored the sky in beautiful colors, which spilled over into a golden orange across the front of the building. There was still plenty of light to read the sign for hours of business, which according to its Monday through Friday posting, she just missed the last tour of the day. Exhaustion called her to inaction, forcing her to all but collapse at the front doors. Sitting on the ground, she mentally rehearsed the unsavory practice of faking cordiality until her head drooped to her chest shortly after. She was just starting REM sleep when the puttering of a boat engine snapped her awake. The sun had set, and Jun shivered at the chilly wind blowing in from the ocean. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings, but the boat approaching the dock quickly reminded her that she needed to be presentable. Flustering with smoothing her hair and clothes, she mentally whipped up her key talking points and put on a smile as the boat slowed to a stop, gently hitting the bumpers.

She patiently waited as the fishermen gathered their equipment and the docking plate was lowered. The young man that was lowering it noticed Jun, and gave a hand signal.

“Be careful! We’ll be with you shortly!”

Jun nodded, watching as cooler after heavy cooler was loaded onto the dock and the fishermen stepped off to the side. She felt a minor cringe grazing her backside, but blamed the autumn air. The young man pulled aside his co-worker, pointing to Jun while talking. They nodded, and the young man continued to help out the fishermen while the other turned to face Jun.

A middle-aged woman wearing galoshes, an apron, thick canvas pants, a wool knit sweater, and a corded hat bearing the business logo greeted Jun with a warm smile. She walked over, wiping her hands with a waist cloth.

“Good evening! Is there anything I can help you with?”

Jun pushed back her anxiety and presented her hand before bowing. “I’m Tagawa Jun. Pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Hiroko Makunouchi, owner of Makunouchi Fishing Boat. Nice to meet you!” Hiroko’s grip was unexpectedly strong, but controlled. “If you’re interested in a fishing trip, I can schedule you in tomorrow or later in the week!”

Jun blurted out her message in a hurry. “I appreciate the offer, but Ippo-san sent me here. Do you happen to be hiring right now?”

Hiroko’s eyes blinked a few times before adopting an expression of pained politeness. The fishermen were packing up to leave, and were saying their goodbyes as they passed. She waved to them, thanking them for their patronage and hoping to see them again next time. The young coworker was last in line, approaching the two.

“What’s going on, boss?”

Jun felt the weight of disappointment crack her chest like a walnut. It suddenly made sense why Ippo was so reluctant to send her here when three was already a crowd.

“This is Tagawa Jun. He was asking to join on the team.”

The young man glanced Jun up and down and gave a smirk. “Uh, you do know it’s a rough job, right?”

Jun asserted herself more seriously. “Yes, I know, but I owe it to Ippo-san that I would do whatever work was given to me.”

Hiroko tried to be as polite as possible. “I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t have any more openings at this time. The boat can only accommodate two crew members, and, well, to be honest, the pay isn’t very good as it is.”

Jun’s soul felt like it wanted to seep down her spine and out from her heels, but desperation kicked in. “I’m more than willing to do part time work if possible, and I’m not looking for a big paycheck. If that’s still a problem...” She paused to make sure that they knew she wasn’t taking a solid “no” for an answer. “...Then all I ask is an exchange: I provide enough work to let me eat for the night. If that’s still not feasible, then...” Jun lowered her head. “Can you at least teach me how to fish?”

Hiroko couldn’t help but admire Jun’s persistence. “Okay then, it’s a deal!”

There was something about taking a boat out into the darkness of the night that created a feeling of being suspended in the vast void of space. Jun was both scared and excited.

“Is it okay if I stash my duffel bag here?” Jun motioned to the cubby space just outside of the engine housing.

“That’s fine. We’re only going to be out here for a few minutes, fifteen at most.” Hiroko piloted the boat past buoy after buoy until finally stopping at a point that only she would recognize. “This should hopefully do at this hour.”

She pulled up a tackle box and a rental fishing rod. “Here. I’ll show you how to bait the hook.”

“Oh, right.” Jun, without thinking about it went to take the piece of red yarn from her hair. Hiroko saw her tying it to the hook and laughed gently. When Hiroko pulled isome bait from the cooler, Jun faltered. “Uh, sorry. Habit.”

“It’s alright. Sometimes you use what you can in place of red wigglers, but out here the fish know better.”

From there, Jun paid full attention to what Hiroko was showing her, only speaking whenever she had a question. Learning how to hold the rod, the proper way to cast the line, what to feel for to set the hook, and how to maintain a proper rhythm when reeling in the fish. It took a few tries, but finally Jun got a nibble.

“Hey, I’ve got something!” The rod jerked violently in her hands. “Can you help me? It feels like the rod will go overboard…” Jun gripped as tight as she could, but a sudden yank pulled her into the side of the boat. Hiroko quickly grabbed the rod and helped to pull it back.

“Ooo, this one’s a fighter! Quick, pull, then reel!”

Jun had never realized just how much strength it took to catch fish. They worked together for minutes, slowly getting the fish up to the boat, causing it to splash harder and further out of the surface of the water with each pull. Finally, a sixteen-inch sea bass was brought up on deck. Jun’s eyes sparkled in amazement. It was the biggest fish she had ever caught.

“Oh! A suzuki! It’s a little on the smaller side, but it’s still a great catch for your first time!” Hiroko deftly deposited the fish into the cooler and removed the hook.

“That’s AMAZING!” Jun bursts with excitement. Hiroko always did get a kick out of her customers’ success.

Ippo reached the house and flagged down his coworker as he was heading home. “Umezawa-kun! Did Tagawa-san come by here?”

Umezawa had to think for a second. “Oh, you mean the scrawny kid looking for a job?”

“Yes!”

“Captain took him out for a ride on the boat to teach him how to fish.” Umezawa jutted his thumb over his shoulder. The dim putter of the engine wafted out over the water.

“So, did Mom hire him, then?” Ippo said confusedly.

“Oho, definitely not! Boss said that we couldn’t afford another employee. To be honest...” Umezawa leaned in for privacy, despite them being the only people on the dock. “I think she knew he was a lost cause.”

“He’s trying, though...” Ippo fought against the inevitable disappointment.

“Dude, if he tries to lift the coolers, he’ll snap in half!” Umezawa raised his arms as if to guide the pragmatic plane of reality to the landing strip. He relaxed from his exuberance. “But you are right about him trying. That kid did not want to give up.” This notion helped to lift Ippo’s concern. Umezawa gave Ippo a pat on the shoulder as he started to take his leave. “I know he wanted to work, but give him a helping hand, will ya?”

Ippo smiled, a bit relieved. “Of course! Have a good night, Umezawa-kun!”

Ippo passed the time waiting for the boat by mentally reviewing tactics for his upcoming Class A final bout with Alexander Volg. He stopped his shadow boxing when the rumble of the boat engine gradually approached the dock. The vessel slowed down and gently bumped to a stop after the engine was cut. Ippo was pleasantly surprised to see Tagawa-san happy as a clam. He climbed up on deck to greet the two of them. Jun was bobbing up and down with excitement.

“Ippo, your mom is so COOL!” Jun exclaimed, going into detail about what happened, providing Hiroko a humbled but pleased expression. Jun finally tapered off her run-on sentence of gleeful success, seguing into a more serious expression. “As I promised, I will work to pay for the fish! Show me what I have to do!”

Hiroko laughed gently. “It’s okay, this one’s on me. You go enjoy your catch! Ippo, can you help wrap his fish to take home?”

There was an awkward silence. Ippo lost some nerve at having to break the news, but Jun mustered up a request. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. Is it possible that I can cook it and eat it here?”

Hiroko looked over to her pensive looking son, then back to the determined stranger. “Well… I don’t see why not...”

Jun clapped her hands together and made a deep bow towards Hiroko. “Thank you so much!” She rushed over to grab her duffel, and then tried to hoist the cooler. It barely scooted an inch, making Jun swivel her head violently to give it an incredulous look. Ippo came over and picked up the cooler like it was nothing. Jun kept her mouth shut as Ippo quickly walked off the boat with her catch.

She tentatively stepped off the boat and picked a spot to set up for the night. She looked over for a brief moment to see Ippo talking with his mother. Regardless of what they were saying, she had to prepare her campsite quickly so she could finally eat and go to bed. She trotted over near the end of the dock and unpacked her sauce pan and her tent. She had unfurled the acrylic cloth and started popping in the supports when a curious voice carried over from behind.

“Tagawa-san, what are you doing?”

Not used to having an inquisitive audience for her nightly routine, Jun slowly turned around and poked her head out of the partly assembled tent to see Hiroko, no longer wearing her apron, hat, and galoshes. Jun blushed at the realization that she was only granted the request to eat, not to camp for the night. “Uhhh… I, uh...”

Hiroko gave another warm smile, laughing a little with it. “You can come into the house! Ippo told me about your situation. You can stay for the night too, if you’d like.”

Jun packed everything back into her bag, a little astonished. “Oh, uh, thank you so much! … But, you don’t even know me. Isn’t it risky to do such things, inviting strangers into your home..?”

Hiroko looked at Jun with a soft understanding. “The fact that you show such concern about my welfare tells me a lot about you already.” She continued while walking with Jun to the front door. “Don’t worry about us. As long as Ippo is here, you can rest easy.” They both looked over at him, wearing his own apron and rubber boots while scrubbing the deck. Jun felt a little silly, forgetting that Ippo had been in a few boxing matches already and would have no problem scaring away unsavory characters. Jun looked back to Hiroko, whose gaze drifted to the horizon. “Leave the worrying to me.”

Hiroko recomposed herself for a moment and then hoisted the cooler off of the porch like it was almost nothing. “Alright then, let’s get this fish ready for dinner!” This smooth motion for something so basic nagged at the emaciated girl. Hiroko removed her shoes and made her way to the kitchen. Jun paused, looking down at her own shoes, and, to her disgust, slid out a dirty foot. Jun tentatively called out from the door.

“Um… Makunouchi-san? Could I get a wet washcloth, please?”

The evening lulled along with Jun, now freshly washed up, getting a small tour of the house while Hiroko made dinner. At the table, Jun felt like a feral stray learning domestication all over again. Dinner consisted of pan seared suzuki, stir fried vegetables, and a steam cooker filled with fluffy rice. Jun’s mouth watered at the sight, but forced herself to focus on imitating the Makunouchi household dinnertime manners. Hiroko doled out enough food for Jun to cover her plate.

“Wow, that’s a lot!” Jun unwittingly confessed.

Once they said their “itadakimasu” blessing, Jun couldn’t hold out any longer. She tore into the fish filet while Hiroko tried to start a conversation.

“You certainly are hungry! When did you last eat?”

Jun chewed her food for a few seconds before a hard swallow. “I had two protein bars for breakfast...”

Hiroko’s motherly instincts caused her to blanch at the child’s lack of nutrition. “There are plenty of places where you can get food for cheap or even free, like the homeless shelters...”

Jun had taken a smaller bite and swallowed quickly. “I tried buying some cheap food, but that ate up what little money I had way too quickly. As for shelters, I stay away from them. Too many bad experiences.” She resumed stuffing her mouth to cut the conversation short. Hiroko’s saddened face prompted Ippo to speak up.

“You said before that you were from Sendai. Have you been camping by yourself this whole time?”

Jun lit up as she switched over to the vegetables. “Absolutely! I spent most of last year in the northern mountains. Normally, I could hike here in a few days, no problem, but Tokyo wasn’t a set goal until a month ago, and that’s only because I can’t withstand the cold. I spent all my money last winter on lodging, so now I’m trying to find work and a warm place to stay.” Jun packed her mouth while the questions continued.

“You’re so young to be roughing it on your own! Do you have any family in Tokyo you could stay with?” Hiroko rested her chin on her hand.

Jun’s chopsticks froze. “...Maybe? My parents divorced when I was six, and my dad took custody of my brother. I haven’t heard from them since, and I wouldn’t know where to start looking.” Part of her was now suspicious as to why it was Tokyo that became her goal in the end. Jun felt the need to shut down this part of the conversation as well.

“So you couldn’t stay with your mother?” Ippo’s innocent question sparked barbs inside Jun’s stomach. She stopped cold.

“No.”

The two of them knew well enough that such body language indicated a touchy subject, and resumed eating during the awkward silence. Jun forced herself to take another bite when pain shot through her gut hard enough to make her convulse with nausea. Jun had to clap her hand over her mouth and hold her meal in. The two were startled.

“Are you ok? Are you choking?” Hiroko was on standby. Jun shook her head side to side, still clamping down. A cold sweat formed on her brow. She allowed herself to breathe through her nose and calm down enough to swallow. Finally, she spoke.

“I’m okay… I think just I ate too much.” Jun continued to take deep breaths. The two worriedly looked down at Jun’s plate, with barely a third of the food gone.

“You don’t have to push yourself. We’ll put away whatever doesn’t get eaten,” Ippo offered comforting words.

Jun was provided a futon in the living room that night. She felt strangely naked, not having her usual tent surrounding her. With the lights turned off, the image of Ippo fighting the long guy came to mind.

“Thanks for fighting for me, Makunouchi-san,” she gently whispered to herself. The ocean gently lapped against the dock outside, allowing the anxieties and sore muscles of the day slip away in favor of a peaceful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve seen the tags, then you know of the spoilers that the main focus of this story is making Mashiba catch The Feels, and the second focus is for Ippo and Kumi to benefit from it. However, the third focus was to give Hiroko, Kumi, and to a lesser degree, Tomiko, a chance for more character development. Seriously-not-seriously though, Hiroko needs to flex her guns more often, because she HAS to be jacked, amirite?


	6. WEATHERING THE STORM

Jun was camping in the middle of a dense forest, a campfire crackling in front of her. The only thing covering her was a bath towel around her waist. She was happily whittling away at a figurine of a little boxing man, finishing it and setting it next to other figurines of boxers. Hunger was silently tugging at her stomach, so she went to turn the spit over the fire that had her fresh catch. However, the spit wouldn’t turn, no matter how hard she tried. Her whole body started to feel hot. When she examined the fish itself, it started growing at an exponential rate. For some reason, this registered more as an inconvenience rather than an alarming anomaly in her mind. The fish blotted out the fire with its increasing girth, bowing over trees and then finally smothering Jun. She wrestled against the soft belly of the fish, watching as her pot and a random kettle clang against each other. The kettle started to whistle on its own before darkness enveloped her field of vision.

The whistle of a kettle remained after opening her eyes, a dim light emitting from the kitchen and a figure standing with a robe on. It was still dark outside, and Jun had to sift her mind of dream imagery to remember where she was. She tried to sit up, but her blanket had wrapped itself around her in her sleep, giving explanation for the sense of smothering. She worked her way free and sat up, calling out.

“Hello..?”

Hiroko turned around, a steaming coffee mug grasped in one hand and a kettle in the other. “Oh! Good morning. I was hoping not to startle you.”

Jun got up, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders. “It’s okay. I didn’t realize it was morning. Is that… tea?”

She smiled. “No, coffee. I make instant. I do have tea, if you want some.”

Jun felt like she was getting a luxury treatment. “Um, sure! Any kind will do.”

Hiroko set down her coffee long enough to refill the kettle and bring down another mug. Jun approached the counter space, not quite sure what to do next.

“How are you feeling?” Hiroko asked, putting a spoonful of sugar into her mug.

“Still a little nauseous, but I’m hoping a hot drink will help.” Jun rubbed her midsection.

She stirred her coffee before taking a sip. “Mmm. You’re probably not in the mood for breakfast then. Still, if you want anything, let me know.”

After a while, the kettle gave its subtle warning that the water was close to boiling. Hiroko took a small teapot out of the cabinet along with a box of loose leaf green tea and measured enough for a serving. Like clockwork, the kettle started to whistle again and Hiroko poured water to the fill line while setting a timer. During this process, Jun was making observations of her surroundings. She noticed that it was ten past four, but she couldn’t remember what time she went to bed.

“Do you always get up this early?” Jun winced.

Hiroko spoke before taking another sip of coffee. “Every day. I was getting up at three in the morning when Ippo started boxing, but… well, that had to stop.”

Jun was confused. “He stopped boxing?”

Hiroko almost choked on her coffee. “No, no! I meant that I had to stop pushing myself so hard. Thankfully, Umezawa-kun has helped out a lot. You know, that young man that was working with me last night?”

Jun nodded. “When does he come in?”

“He usually comes in at 11, sometimes earlier or later, depending on his schedule.”

Jun pondered on this information. “Does Ippo work shifts, too?”

“He still helps out when he can, but he doesn’t have to. He enjoys boxing, and I want him to go after what he’s passionate about. Whenever he has a match coming up, he could spend an entire work day at the gym.”

“He spends eight hours at the gym?!” Jun exclaimed.

Hiroko giggled over her coffee. “Not quite. I think he goes in for three hours, breaks for lunch, and then another three hours before coming home. Something like that.”

“Wow...” Jun was dazed by this revelation, completely forgetting how long her first official day at the gym was. “So, does he have a match coming up soon?”

Hiroko took a long pull of her coffee, giving some thought to her answer. “I’m not sure when it is, but I know there’s an important one in about a month. I suppose all of his matches are important to him, but this one has something to do with prize money.”

Jun vaguely remembered overhearing something about a pursed match, but she was too focused on her own issues to inquire on the details. The alarm went off for the tea, jostling her out of her contemplation. Hiroko took another sip before pouring the tea for Jun. “Mm! I should get going on breakfast. I have to start packing for the morning crew by five.” Hiroko started gathering what she needed to measure out some rice for the cooker. “Are you sure you don’t want anything, in case you feel better later? I usually make some extra for Ippo anyway, so it’s not a bother.”

Jun stopped her sip of tea short more because of the temperature, but hurried to provide an answer. “If it’s alright, I’ll just settle for a couple of boiled eggs.”

Hiroko poured the measured equivalent of two cups of rice in a bowl to rinse. “I suppose that’s better than nothing.”

Jun carefully sipped at her tea, watching Hiroko quickly swirl the rice inside its milky bath.

“What do you have to do for the morning crew?”

Hiroko didn’t miss a beat as she poured the rinse water out. “We don’t always have customers in the first AM slot, but overall I start the day by loading up a dozen coolers with ice, pulling the isome out of the thawing fridge and replacing them with frozen ones, making sure all of the tackle is fully stocked and ready, safety-inspecting the boat for any necessary repairs and fluid refills, checking all of the life jackets for damage, putting the coolers on the boat by the time the customers are here...” The rice cooker was ready to go by the time she finished. “Plus it’s important that you start off with a clean uniform and a positive attitude.” She pointed her finger upward before using it to press the start button. “Both the customers and the fish can tell when you’re in a bad mood.” Jun couldn’t help but be tickled by the way Hiroko managed to make mandatory job politeness feel absolutely believable and necessary for once. “I’m going to go get ready. By the way, I went ahead and put your clothes in with the wash last night. They’re in the last room on the left, but if you want something more appropriate for the weather, I can go get some out of storage.”

Jun tried not to flinch at having her privacy unintentionally invaded. She seriously hoped that Hiroko didn’t notice that it was panties and not briefs that she had worn, but decided to use the excuse of bad luck at finding clothes if the subject ever came up. Technically, they were clothes stolen from a clothesline. Jun decided to distract herself by poking around the kitchen for a pot and a couple of eggs to boil in the meantime.

After taking a shower, getting dressed, and breakfast, Jun followed Hiroko around like a shadow, trying to help out where she could in the house. When the boat left, she watched from the doorway as the waves caught the light from the sign lamps.

“What an amazing woman,” Jun whispered to herself. In twelve hours, she was made to feel more like family than she had experienced from her own mother in twelve years. The need to busy herself shoved to the forefront of her mind to avoid the onset of another stomach cramp. Rotating her arms, the soreness in her muscles reminded her of the previous night’s screw-up. “Uuuugh, shit. The gym...” Jun lightly thumped her forehead on the door pane. She had completely forgotten the hot mess of emotions that were left behind. She stood there with her head leaning on the door, thinking about what to do about it. The image of Ippo versus the long guy superimposed on her thoughts. She took a deep breath and let it out slow. “It’s going to suck, but I have to go back with an apology. I might be let back in, I might not, but whatever happens, happens. Accept it, Himomame-kun.” She took another deep breath and straightened her shoulders. Her first instinct was to go on ahead while Ippo was asleep, but at the same time, there were still some problems that Jun had to address. Hiroko had given her a sweatshirt along with a set of Ippo’s old winter clothing, but the thought of sticking her freshly socked feet into those disgusting excuses for footwear now made her cringe. It was still dark out, and Jun suspected that the gym wasn’t going to be open for another hour, anyhow.

Feeling fidgety, she pulled her knife from her bag and went looking for something to carve. The only thing she could think to find was her leftover boiled egg. Working from the center outward, she carefully cut and plucked wedges out, eating them as she went, creating the form of a blooming rose by the time she heard a muffled alarm down the hall. The sound of a door sliding open came shortly after, followed by a drawn out yawn. Ippo walked out into the kitchen wearing pajamas with a cartoonish crab print. Jun stifled a laugh.

“Good morning, Tagawa-san!” Ippo had to do a double take and rub the sleep out of his eyes when he saw what Jun was holding.

“Good morning!”

“Wow! What is that?!”

Jun twirled the carved egg in her fingers, pretending like it was nothing. “A hard boiled egg, but I got bored.”

“You’re so talented! I had no idea you could sculpt food!”

She smirked at that one. “I had no idea, either. I couldn’t find any wood to carve, so I tried this out. Glad it came out nice!” She popped the whole thing in her mouth to Ippo’s dismay. “Tashtes niesh, too!”

“Eeehh… I guess it was silly to think you could keep it like that. Have you thought about making carvings to sell?”

For a brief moment, Jun felt like an idiot. However, she remembered her reasons. “Once. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to maintain an inventory when I’m homeless, and making anything detailed takes up a lot of time and concentration, which isn’t safe. My stuff got stolen once before, and I learned my lesson.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I think you would do a great job making souvenirs and stuff...” Ippo checked the rice cooker for leftovers.

Jun’s ears perked at the subtle cue. “Well, if you let me stay here for a while, maybe I can earn my keep doing just that? Making Makunouchi Fishing Boat souvenirs?”

Ippo looked up from the open fridge with delighted embarrassment. “Really? You would do that?”

“It’s not like I have anything better to do now...” She rolled her eyes with a wince.

While she cleaned up her mess and washed her knife, Ippo made his breakfast of tamago kage gohan with three eggs. Jun felt it was the right time to address the elephant in the room as she accompanied him to the table. “Hey Ippo... I’m sorry about how I behaved at the gym yesterday. I was tired and desperate, but that doesn’t excuse me from being rude.” Jun idly turned the blade between her fingers. “I need to apologize to Kamogawa-san, even if I’m not welcome back.”

Ippo blinked, caught off guard by the concern. “It’s okay, Tagawa-san! Tempers flare up all the time at the gym, and we could tell you were having difficulties. I’m sure Coach would be open to hear your side of things.”

Jun shrugged. “You’re probably right, but it’s still embarrassing, especially when you guys literally wagered on my success.”

Ippo paused on his bite of food, deciding to keep quiet on the fact that Kimura and Takamura like to gamble on whatever trifling matter that catches their interest. He swallowed hard.

“To be honest, I’m not sure if it’s still on.” Ippo fussed with a lump of rice.

“What were the conditions, anyway?”

“Let’s see… Takamura-san said you wouldn’t last two days, Kimura-san said less than a day, I was forced into a decreasing multiplier for every day you stayed on… and Aoki-san had to make everyone ramen if you lasted a week.”

“Oh, so it was a wager on my failure. That’s nice. Why does Aoki have to make ramen, then?” Jun responded blandly.

“Takamura-san said it was for celebration, but I think he just wanted free ramen.” Ippo timidly picked at his food, hoping that his words wouldn’t come back to bite him.

Jun leaned in. “So by ‘lasting a week,’ does that mean perfect attendance at my own pace, or a grueling one?”

Ippo lowered his chopsticks and stared out in thought. “Huh. They didn’t specify.”

A sinister grin split across Jun’s face and she forcefully tapped her index finger onto the table to emphasize her words. “In that case, I’ll just have to convince Kamogawa to let me keep coming in and follow the routine he gives me. The bet might be dissolved with the others, but it’s still on with me. I want to do this!”

Ippo could only smile and nod in response.

Jun clasped her fingers under her chin. “First thing’s first, though; Shoes.”

The door slid open to the entrance of Kamogawa Gym. Eyes naturally glanced over to see who was coming in. It was only after Ippo had cleared the doorway that certain eyes widened at the return of the homeless kid, now wearing a clean set of hand-me-downs, lightly worn shoes, no duffel in sight, and a smile gracing beneath brighter eyes. While Jun started towards Kamogawa’s office to tackle the issue immediately, there was a brief pause to look at the peg board. Her name was taken down. As she slipped through the office door, three snakes slithered up to Ippo for answers.

“What the hell is he doing back here?!” Aoki was incredulous.

“Tagawa-san asked me to help him out, and to let him apologize to the coach,” Ippo replied.

“Does this mean the bet is still on?” Kimura gave a raised eyebrow to Aoki, who returned the expression.

“What this means...” Takamura mused with his arms crossed and eyes closed. He opened them up as he gave his straight-faced remark. “… Is that our Himomame-kun has made Ippo his brand new sugar daddy.”

Upon closing the door as quietly as she could, Jun gave a nervous grin as Kamogawa looked up from his paperwork and immediately scowled. Jun knew she had to step in first to have a chance. She clapped her hands just above her forehead.

“I know you don’t want to see me here, but I felt that I owed you an apology for my behavior yesterday. Please forgive me for losing my temper!” She concluded with a deep bow.

Kamogawa’s eyebrow twitched in time with the tapping of his pen. “Kid, at least you have that much decency, but this isn’t a halfway house for you to squat at. This is where my boxers come to train and where members come to exercise. If you can’t put up the effort, then don’t bother coming in. Get your personal life in order first, and then we’ll talk.”

Jun straightened herself out and smiled broadly. “Alright then, let’s talk!”

Kamogawa squinted slightly, now noticing the new clothes.

“I am NOT his sugar daddy!!” Ippo exclaimed.

Behind him, Kimura was making the motion of flipping bills out from an imaginary wad of cash. Aoki held out his hands cloyingly. “Thank you, Daddy! I APPRECIATE IT!”

Takamura continued, shaking his head in disgust. “You could have at least bought him some new clothes instead of forcing him to wear yours… unless that’s your way of branding your cattle...”

Ippo flustered at the jibes. “Will you guys stop it?! He was starving to death, and had absolutely nothing!”

Kimura put an arm around Ippo’s shoulders. “You do have a point. Himomame-kun looked more like ‘dried bean’ rather than ‘string bean,’ judging by how many bones were showing.”

“I know. He couldn’t even finish half of a plate of food last night,” Ippo lamented. “Fasting for a match is one thing, but it sounded like Tagawa-san’s been struggling to eat for months, if not over a year.” The other three cringed at the thought of having only a tomato each day for a year. “Tagawa-san just wants a chance to live and to recover, that’s all.”

“Wait, so Himomame-kun wasn’t signing up to be a flyweight?” Aoki realized. “I guess it seems stupid to think so now, knowing he’s homeless, but I could have sworn someone mentioned it...”

The group paused for a moment, with Takamura glaring down at them, just waiting for a chance for someone to open their mouths so he could ram his fist in.

Aoki was first on the chopping block. “Now I remember!!”

“… So, that’s my situation right now.” Jun took a breather from her long winded explanation.

Kamogawa blinked at the clarification. “So Yagi-chan offered a free trial, huh? And you want to use the gym for muscle rehabilitation…” He rubbed a finger on his temple, looking down at his desk. “For some reason, I was under the impression that you were signing on as a flyweight.” He straightened out his desk and got up from his chair to fetch a form for her from the file drawer. “I have no problems with your request to join as long as you fill out the form by next week – using the brat’s address, I assume – and pay the required fees.” As he made his way back around the desk, he pointed his cane at her. “And that you also stay out of the way of my professional boxers, Takamura, Makunouchi, Kimura, and Aoki. Especially do your best to stay out of trouble with Makunouchi in particular, since he has a match coming up very soon.”

“Yes, he told me about it this morning. This Volg fellow sounds intimidating.”

Kamogawa grumbled at the understatement. “Well, I’m doing my damnedest to make sure that brat can deliver an even more intimidating punch. He needs to focus for the next month and build up those legs, too.” The commotion outside attracted the coach’s ire. “And as for that wager nonsense...”

Aoki thrashed wildly under Takamura’s armpit. Kimura and Ippo could only watch on helplessly before the coach’s door slammed open to interrupt.

“TAKAMURA! OFFICE! NOW!”

Kamogawa and Takamura’s squabble followed into the office after Jun came out. She folded up the registration form as the others approached.

“So, you’re back! Did you work things out with the coach?” Kimura said earnestly.

“For now, yeah. I just need to take things slowly and make sure I don’t distract you guys from training,” she smiled. “I do wish I could be the one to offer celebratory ramen at the end of the week, but I don’t have that kind of money.”

“If you’re up to it, I could have my boss let you work as a temp to pay for the food...” Aoki offered.

“Your boss?” Jun was confused.

“Yeah, at Chuuka Soba. If you stop back here after eight, I can show you where it is and introduce you.”

At this point, the other two decided to leave them to their conversation in order to focus on training. “Oh, so you work at a noodle shop! That explains your end of the bet. Are you good at making ramen?”

Aoki beamed. “I make the BEST ramen.”

The troublemaker in Jun whispered into her ear. “Hey Aoki, how do you feel about pulling pranks?”

A malicious grin cut under Aoki’s wild eyes. “If you want to get back at Takamura, I am GAME!”

Jun snickered at his accurate preconception. “Wow, you called that one!”

Aoki held out his hands in a shrug. “We saw him take a swing at you, and you dodged it like you had eyes in the back of your head! That was pretty cool!”

She grinned. “Instinct, man. Anyway, I’ll tell you the plan later, and I need to clear it with your boss first, too.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Going to put something nasty in his food? That’s a classic.”

She turned towards the locker room. “Yes, and no… it’ll actually help him more than hurt him… but yeah, I’ll fill you in at the restaurant.”

Aoki returned to his own training, still piqued by Jun’s curious riddle. He rubbed his jaw in anticipation.

The week’s free trial had come to an end, and Jun had shown enough progress to create a satisfying snap when punching the heavy bag. It perked the ears of the key players.

“Hey, you’ve got something there, Himomame-kun!” Kimura pointed out.

Jun had to stop and pull out her profanity-abating mouth guard. “What, a pimple?”

Kimura chuckled. “No, you’ve got something behind your punches now!”

Jun thought about it for a second, positioned herself, and swiftly lashed out a jab with her free hand. There wasn’t much strength behind it, but the sound was indeed crisp. “Huh! I guess you’re right!”

Kimura cocked his head, observing the punch. “It’s just weird though, since you don’t have much by way of muscles yet.”

“It could be his grip strength,” Takamura interjected, wiping down with a towel from his weightlifting. He demonstrated what he meant, pointing to key places on his arm before snapping a jab of his own. “Himomame-kun has more defined forearms, which work with the triceps to create a fast punch.”

Jun watched her own muscles work as she flexed her hand within the boxing glove. “Well, I did climb on a lot of stuff growing up, and it continued with trees when I was living in the mountains...” She didn’t want to discuss how many times she had to scramble to safety over fences, walls, and other obstacles after acts of vandalism.

People were starting to filter into the shower rooms, and Ippo and Aoki had joined the group. Normally, Jun wouldn’t be at the gym during the end of the day, but she couldn’t say no when everyone demanded that she stay after for an end-of-day surprise. She seriously hoped this wouldn’t involve a hazing, but nothing was setting off her gut instincts outside of Takamura’s usual smarmy behavior.

Kimura smiled. “You did well this week, Himomame-kun! You may not have done full workouts, but you still came in every day, and showed improvement for it. As such, you won the bet.” He fished a small wad of yen out of his pocket and handed it over. Jun was gobsmacked by the generosity, as she had assumed that the bet was dissolved when Kamogawa put the kibosh on it.

“Heeeeeeh?!!” Jun couldn’t help but have one corner of her mouth raise in a delighted smirk. She pulled off a glove and gingerly accepted the money.

“It’s enough to cover the cost of joining, so you can keep coming in if you like!” Ippo happily informed Jun.

“Well, shit! I didn’t think I would be worth caring about, just a leaf on the wind, but… thanks, you guys!” Jun was now grinning from ear to ear.

“So, Himomame-kun! Are you going to show your grit in the ring once you bulk up?” Takamura asked.

She laughed. “Ahah, uh, ask me again in six months.” She told herself that it was impossible to go pro, but her spite reflex nagged her into curiosity. The group liked the sound of another small but feisty addition to their circle.

Takamura slapped down on Aoki’s shoulder. “USUU! Let’s hurry up and have a ramen celebration already!” The group headed to the showers excitedly. Jun hung back for a couple of seconds. She knew it was a risk coming in so late, but she didn’t want to arouse suspicion by refusing. As such, she had to reattach the wooden prosthetic before leaving the house. Her body hadn’t changed much in the week outside of reduced eye bags, but she knew she couldn’t keep this up forever. She forced her feet to move despite the nerves.

In the locker room, she took a moment to retrieve her membership form and a pen to fill it out.

“Tagawa, that can wait. Hurry it up!” Aoki’s excitement for the plan was palpable, but she felt that this little bit of dawdling was merited.

“I don’t want to risk losing this!” She pretended to fill in the parts that she filled in previously. She side eyed the group, who were walking into the showers already. She folded the money up with the paper and returned it to Kamogawa’s office before coming back to the locker room to strip. The shower went by rather smoothly, this time with no harassment outside of having to tolerate Takamura singing his dynamite punch song. There was one unexpected surprise going back to the locker rooms.

Takamura decided to make the false claim that, with enough training, Jun could bulk up “downstairs” as well as gain muscle, and whipped away Ippo’s courtesy towel as proof. Jun caught full view of the man and the legend. She was thankful that the resulting commotion on Ippo’s behalf allowed her blushing face to slip by unnoticed and get dressed.

As the crew entered Chuuka Soba, Jun pulled a discreetly wrapped parcel out of her gym bag and passed it to Aoki, who proceeded to the back room. Everyone took a seat after he was prepped and ready for work.

“Tonight is a special recipe, made as per Tagawa-san’s request!” Aoki smiled wryly as he started chopping vegetables. “The Outdoorsman’s Treat! Made with ginger, assorted sansai, and Jun’s specialty protein paste!” The group was impressed.

“I didn’t know you had a recipe for ramen!” Ippo smiled.

“Not ramen specifically, but I have made soup with whatever edibles I can find in nature.” Jun handed off a pair of chopsticks. “Aoki helped refine it with additional seasonings.” She tapped her own chopsticks on the table as an alert. “However, I couldn’t collect enough ingredients for large bowls, so this will be an appetizer, okay?”

Ippo nodded. “It certainly is getting colder outside, so I don’t blame you for not finding much. Still, I’m sure it will taste good!”

Jun gave a knowing smile. “Just make sure you incorporate the paste into the broth before eating.”

As the group chatted, Aoki carefully spooned small dollops of the paste on top of the greens, slipping boiled whole crickets underneath. The bowls were small enough that Aoki could grab all four of them at the same time, and served them immediately.

“Damn, that IS an appetizer!” Takamura complained. Jun kept an eye on them from the end of the counter. Ippo and Kimura started stirring in the paste, but Takamura slurped down the bowl like it was nothing, which, with his size, was accurate. Both Jun and Aoki were trying not to laugh.

Ippo felt an elbow nudge him in the arm before he was going to eat the first bite of noodles. He looked over to Jun who was holding something black in her chopsticks. Something with legs.

 _Wh… what?!_ “Aoki-san, there’s—” Ippo faltered, but the look on Aoki’s face was just as mischievous as Jun’s, her head motioning him to look down the line.

“WHAT IS THIS.” Kimura deadpan yelled, dropping his chopsticks. He had taken a little more time to stir and saw the offending insect floating idly in the middle of the bowl. As Ippo looked down at his own bowl to see a leg sticking out from underneath loops of noodle, Jun gave a sinister laugh.

“What? Takamura-san likes my cricket paste… don’t you, BIG GUY?” Her head was tilted down to emphasize the shadows over her eye sockets. She shared a similar evil look to someone else that Ippo was viscerally familiar with, and it gave him a chill. Jun sealed the deal as she put her cricket in her mouth and loudly crunched down with a sneer. Kimura, Ippo, and even Aoki had to grimace at the gross display. Meanwhile, Takamura’s forehead vein was throbbing. Simultaneously, Jun jumped the counter as Takamura dashed around the shocked group.

“YOU SICK, LITTLE PISSANT! I’LL KILL YOU!”

Bowls of ramen sloshed across the counter as Takamura tried to grab Jun’s leg. She had already jumped the prep area and was hiding next to the stove before he could do anything else.

Jun crowed out in her best machismo voice. “Ah, it’s in your muscles already! SUCH A PROTEIN BOOST!”

Takamura jumped the counter too, but Jun had already zipped out into the dining area the other way.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?!” Takamura yelled, blasting past Aoki to the counter entryway.

Jun had paused in between Kimura and Ippo. “Insects are naturally high in protein. I boiled crickets to sanitize them, then mashed them into a paste. That’s what you ate before, and you didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects!”

Takamura looked at Jun with rage and incredulity. He then swiveled his head towards Aoki, who was holding up a familiar-looking ball of cricket paste wrapped in a sakura leaf. He was about to jump Aoki for being a part of this trick, but Jun pulled a card on him.

“Real men know how to survive in the wild, Takamura-san! Real men know how to deal with adversity, and real men step up to make things right! Aoki-san, pack these up for me. I’ll make fresh bowls of beef ramen for everybody.”

“Sure thing, Tagawa-san!” Aoki saluted, scooping up the bowls and wiping down the counter as Jun slipped through to the back to get washed up. Takamura finally snapped out of his confusion when the head chef cleared his throat next to him. He took his seat next to his pallid comrades. They sat in stunned silence as Aoki poured the remaining soup into a large container.

“He’s actually going to eat that?” Ippo wondered, uneasy about the thought of seeing crickets floating in his fridge.

“He just ate one of those little bastards in front of us, so apparently yes,” Kimura stated bluntly. _Remind me to never invite him to my house. He could mistake my fish food for a snack…_ His eye subtly twitched.

The two of them looked over to Takamura, who had his arms crossed with a stern, pissed look on his face. A brief silence.

“...So was it any good?” Kimura smirked.

Takamura’s face tightened into a scowl. The two were bracing themselves for another violent outburst. At the last second, he relaxed his face into a facetious smile. “Actually, it was pretty damn delicious!” He slapped his hand hard against Kimura’s back. “It’s too bad neither of you were man enough to take up the challenge.” The two of them gawked at his blatant cover-up.

Jun had cooked up much larger bowls of ramen for the group, with some assistance from Aoki on the trickier tasks. This time the well-crafted bowls of beef ramen were happily emptied and Jun washed dishes in the meantime. After all was said and done, Aoki stayed on for his shift while everyone else parted ways for the night. Jun couldn’t help herself and took a sip of the cricket broth as they were leaving, much to Ippo’s disgust.

“I can’t believe you did that to everyone, and that you still want to eat that!”

Jun resealed the container. “You eat the fish that eat the isome...”

His face twisted at her faulty logic. “That’s different. You’re supposed to gut the fish before eating it.”

She took a brief moment to look up at the stars and collect her thoughts. “Ippo, do you know what I find more disgusting than eating bugs?”

Not sure if there was a certain way to respond, he slowly shook his head.

“Begging. I absolutely hate begging for food, and especially for money. If there’s one thing that I learned on my travels, it’s that everything has a price on it, even if people say it’s free. The price for hunting and eating the food I catch is my time and effort. The price I pay for begging is whatever shred of dignity I have left.” She turned and smiled at him. “I’ve been an ass pain troublemaker for a long time, and it’ll never go away completely, but I’m working on being a better person.”

Ippo felt her self description was a little harsh. “You don’t seem like a bad person. In fact, you’ve shown a lot of admirable behavior, both at home and at the gym!”

Jun laughed at the thought of her character being summed up in a week’s time. “Well, a close brush with death helps put things in perspective,” she clenched the fist holding her gym bag. “Of course, it also makes you want to have fun while you still can.” She turned once again to him, saluting with her soup container. “No more horsing around, though! You have a match to focus on.”

Ippo smiled with some intensity and nodded as they made their way back home in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • You’ll start to notice that I have a thing about chatting over tea/coffee and quiet mornings.  
>  • The tamago kage gohan/egg over rice (with three eggs) is a mild nod to Rocky Balboa drinking the raw eggs before roadwork.  
>  • If I remember correctly, sansai are “mountain vegetables,” or edible weeds that the poor took advantage of during WWII. Not gonna lie, I wish I could travel to Japan and see if I could craft a recipe based on The Outdoorsman’s Treat.  
>  • It’s a good thing the cricket prank isn’t canon, otherwise the sea slater prank would have set off Takamura’s free-food-means-something’s-afoot sense.


	7. A NEW SAPLING IN WINTER

Jun was offered an unexpected present from Hiroko. Inside of a medium gift box were a few blocks of pine wood and a brand new carving knife.

“I liked the little fish carvings you did last week, but I wanted to get you something a little safer to use than your camping knife. The wood was donated by one of our customers.”

Jun didn’t know what to say for a moment. “Thank you! Wow, and a sharpening stone, too!”

Hiroko gave a warm smile. “You can use it to help with the business, but I do admit, I’m curious to see what else you can make besides lures and bobbers...”

“I’ll have to think about it… Do you have any suggestions?”

Hiroko waved her hand dismissively. “I have no idea. You just do whatever comes to mind, and I’m sure it will turn out nicely. Just have fun with it, and be careful!”

“I will, and give my thanks to the donating customer!” Jun lightly bowed as Hiroko set out in full gear to take care of the morning crew. As the door closed, she pulled the safety cap from the knife and took a test swipe at the sharp corner of the wood block. It peeled off easy with a smooth motion. “Nice!” Jun put the cap back on and closed the lid. She wandered the house for a bit, thinking. Her gaze stopped at the photo on the mantle of young Ippo in the arms of his father.

The next week, Jun presented Hiroko with her first piece using the new knife. Hiroko unwrapped the paper and gasped at the small wooden bust that was a very close likeness to her beloved husband, Kazuo. The only jarring discrepancy was that stubble was difficult to replicate in a wooden likeness. Her fingers carefully graced the contours of the cheekbones.

“Amazing…” Hiroko was so enamored with the effort that she didn’t notice her tears until one dripped onto the carving. She became flustered. “Oh!! I’m sorry! It’s just… It looks just like him!” Her sweater sleeve pulled the rest of the tears from her face. Jun watched her with concern, but came to realize that everything may come with a price, but some things come with unexpected and intangible rewards. “Ippo! Come look at this!”

He came out of his room a few moments later. “What is it, Mom?”

When she showed him the bust, His jaw dropped. “Wow! It’s Dad!” He looked up at Jun, who was a little flushed by how much attention her work was getting. “Did you make this?!”

She nodded her head as he gently touched a finger to the carved features.

“… Thank you so much, Tagawa-san!” Ippo’s eyes sparkled with joy and heartache.

“Ah, you’re welcome! I’m glad it turned out well.”

“You did a wonderful job, Tagawa-kun. He can stay next to the photo to greet us in the mornings.” Hiroko placed the bust on the mantle. From that point on, there was a little more warmth towards Jun from the family, and she could sense that Kazuo would have been proud, too.

It was Jun’s third week staying at Makunouchi’s place. Ippo was doing some hardcore training at the pool and getting run ragged by Kamogawa, so Jun tried to pick up the slack at the house. It was through helping out with the chores that she found out about the back room holding the power tools. With some assistance, Jun learned how to use a hand drill to speed up the carving process. When Umezawa first saw her carvings, he was blown away. He opened up about his interest in becoming a mangaka, and they talked about the difficulties of rendering likenesses in their respective mediums. Jun decided that her second block of wood should be the main character from his planned manga debut. When she finished a few days later, he was thrilled and thanked her profusely. She had one block of wood left, which Takamura claimed for himself after news broke that Jun had this talent.

The fourth week became a tipping point. Jun’s exercise was increasing incrementally, and new pains started surfacing. She was finally up to two full meals per day and working on the third, allowing her frame to finally fill out. Stretch marks were coming in at key places, including around her chest. It was time for Jun to get some extra bandages and learn how to bind. She was finally able to work on the boat proper and had earned her first true paycheck. Because Jun didn’t have documentation yet, she requested that Hiroko stash away all but 2000 yen from future paychecks in a hidden place and write it up as a freelancer fee. The first thing she purchased with her money was the bandages, and the second thing she purchased was a haircut. No longer drawn back in a stubby ponytail, she combed it into a three-quarters part and tucked the long bits behind her ears. With Ippo’s match drawing near, Jun couldn’t help but pester about getting a free pass to the fight. The group said they could sneak her in to the balcony to watch.

It was Jun’s first time watching a live boxing match, and she was nervous. Everyone’s excitement was contagious. She was rather thankful that Takamura was not with the group for once, but rather down at ringside as a guest commentator. The opening fights helped her get used to the atmosphere, and was ready to cheer for Ippo when the main event finally arrived. What she wasn’t ready for was how quickly his opponent, Volg, had lashed out such a vicious beating within the first minute. _So this is what the professional level is like…_

The second round felt even more painful, but a jolt of exhilaration cracked through once Volg took his first down. It didn’t linger for long, since Volg sent Ippo to the mat soon after. When the gong ended round two, a familiar feeling rose in Jun’s throat. The hunger to survive was within Ippo, too. She just hadn’t seen it displayed in live action before. The man he was fighting was unbelievably tough, and also showed a scathing primal drive. Through the rounds, Jun started yelling and cursing at top volume. When the fifth round came to an abrupt end with Volg’s KO, She was bursting at the seams with pride and joy. She sobered up once they had to use the stretcher to carry Ippo out unconscious. After getting the information as to which hospital he was taken to and his condition, she mentally prepared herself to behave as tactfully as she could around Hiroko, but was at least allowed to fully celebrate the victory with Umezawa.

Jun was trying to do her best to help out in Ippo’s place, but by the third morning, she couldn’t take it anymore. Umezawa was more than willing to cover for a few hours, much to Jun’s relief, and hitched a ride with Hiroko to the hospital for a visit. She never really thought about it before, how much time it could take to recover from a beating like that despite being prepared for it. Volg had stopped by to visit as well, which set her on edge until he displayed a disarming amount of courtesy and respect. This was another revelation for her: that Ippo wasn’t the only one to show a clear separation between base instinct and emotions. For so long, the two had been intertwined so tightly for her. She couldn’t help but wonder if boxing would help her sort out her internal mess of rage twisted in the netting of her experiences and memories. She did have to admit, Alexander Volg was kind of adorable outside of the ring. Mentally admitting this gave her chest a squeeze. With her body recovering from severe starvation, the old hormones were starting to leech through her guard as she had previously suspected. She made a mental note of this, hoping that she wouldn’t make a fool of herself in the near future. A deep, dark part of her laughed long and hard at this hope, knowing full well that things never turn out that smoothly, judging by her past sexual romps.

Volg had left, and the Kamogawa clown car unloaded into the room after Ippo woke up. When they harassed him to the point of leaving to use the restroom, Jun decided to follow the guys out to the hallway out of curiosity. Before she knew what was going on, Jun got roped into the group date they were arranging with the help of one of the nurses. After the nurse left and the guys had their little dance, the ribbing began.

“Wahah! Tagawa-kun, it looks like you’ve scored a date!” Aoki slapped her on the shoulder.

“Even though I’m not a pro boxer like you guys claimed...” She tried to hide her distaste for being set up.

Takamura hammered that stake further into the ground. “But you have to come along! If one of them turns out to be a lemon, you can take one for the team… LIKE A PRO!”

His laughter was cut short by Jun’s nonchalant acceptance of the matter. “Okay, sure. It’s been a while since I’ve gone out with someone. I could have some fun.”

Takamura leaned in close and gravely spoke. “You seem rather confident for someone with the tiniest dick out of all of us… what makes you think it won’t end in tears for you?”

“How so?”

“Do I have to spell it out for you, buddy?! You couldn’t satisfy a woman if she had a bellybutton for a cooch!” Takamura hissed though his teeth.

Jun rolled her eyes. “Oh please. There’s more than one way to make a woman cream her panties...” She ended with the tip of her thumb firmly planted on her tongue and one eye closed.

The group’s eyes went wide. They howled in the hallway.

“OOOOOOOOOH! DAAAAMN, JUN! YOU DIRTY, DIRTY DOG!” Aoki was bent over, holding his middle from splitting with laughter.

“Will you keep it down?!” Jun checked the hallway for passerby, trying to act cool with a hot face.

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to be a player!” Kimura postured with both hands in his pockets.

Takamura had straightened up like a rod, with a wild look in his eyes and an understanding grin. “So our little Himomame-kun has tasted the wild fruits of youth...”

Jun felt she had no choice but to keep acting cool and try to keep the deception as innocuous as possible. “Well, yeah, hasn’t everyone here?” Kimura and Aoki looked at each other, then at Ippo’s room, and snickered.

Takamura leaned back in close to Jun, this time jamming a finger right into her shoulder. “Alright, kid. You had better shine like gold on the date – and spill on the details after! Otherwise, we WILL know you’re full of it and will be subject to punishment...”

Jun wanted to spout a hell of a lot more sass his way, but decided to go with simplicity. “Sure. May the best man win.”

Takamura stood up straight and flexed a bit. “Thanks, I will!”

Aoki took the initiative to address Jun as Takamura turned to leave. “Remember, don’t tell Ippo that this is a date. It’s a surprise! For all he knows, we’re just going out for a victory celebration, got it?”

Jun put up a fist in confirmation. “Got it.”

The group parted ways, leaving Jun to report back in the room. Ippo still hadn’t come back from the bathroom.

“What was that ruckus out there?” Hiroko couldn’t help but be curious.

Jun shrugged. “I’m the newbie, so they like to mess with me a lot. What’s taking Ippo so long?”

“I hope he’s okay,” Hiroko fretted.

“If he’s not back in five minutes, we’ll go looking for him.” Jun peeked out the doorway.

Shortly after, Ippo returned, strangely happy and with his fly open. Jun had to suppress that still fresh memory of him on full display in the showers.

Days had passed, and Ippo was finally released. In preparation for the date night, Jun used her allowance to purchase undershirts to better cover the bandages. Hiroko helped Jun find an old dress shirt and dress pants from storage. Jun was starting to feel odd about wearing Ippo’s clothes so often, but tried to dismiss the feeling with the logic that they were no longer his if he didn’t wear them regularly. Despite needing the belt to hang low on her hips, the outfit hid her budding curves nicely. _Y’know, I really don’t make a half-bad looking guy!_ She turned to check herself out in the bathroom mirror. With shifty eyes, she decided to pad her underwear with rolled pieces of paper towel. _I am NOT gluing that damn dick on me again!_ She stared at the male Jun in the mirror. _I never thought I would be in this kind of situation, going on a blind date with a woman. Why did I have to say that crap out loud at the hospital? I mean, it was the truth, and yeah, I have taken part in … the activity… but only on the receiving side. Once._ The thought of having to go through with eating out a stranger made her face turn bright red. She swallowed hard and winced. _This is going to be a no-win situation, isn’t it?_ She solidly pondered her alternatives. Unfortunately, her best option was to make up an excuse before the point of no return and face whatever humiliation Takamura had in store. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Regardless of what happens at that point, she was determined to at least try and have some fun beforehand. One last thought ran through her head: the notion of getting a good night kiss. Her face turned red again. _Maybe if she’s pretty, it won’t be so bad?_

It wasn’t until Ippo had asked why she was all dressed up that she had realized that no one had yet told Ippo about the celebratory outing, and she was too focused on keeping it a secret to remember to tell him herself. Not long after, the guys called to confirm. For the cold weather, Jun had been using an old coat that was donated by a customer ages ago. It was purely coincidence that the coat was emblazoned with a soybean company logo, complete with a cartoon soybean pod mascot. The two of them were late, but met up with the guys at the rendezvous point. When the girls arrived, Jun made mental notes. There was a tall, beautiful, but intimidatingly stern looking older woman, two decent looking women, a shy, young girl, and a somewhat homely looking lady. _Yup, there’s the lemon. Great,_ Jun thought to herself, sincerely hoping the woman wasn’t expecting much. Behind Jun, Ippo was making a fuss about refusing to pay for the night. For some naive reason, she thought that her leftover 1300 yen would be enough to cover for the date, especially when she had no plans on drinking. The thought of Ippo covering full expenses with his purse money felt both immoral and yet fitting for the situation. The train of thought abruptly switched tracks when she heard the young, shy girl address Ippo directly. The following muttering about her being Mashiba’s sister caused the train of thought to slam on the brakes. _Mashiba’s sister… Mashiba… Why is that name so familiar? WAIT…!!!_ The image of the news clipping flashed in front of her, clear as day.

“YOU’RE SISTER TO LONG GUY?!!” Jun blurted out. Everyone stared at her, even Ippo. Jun, once again face red, promptly and loudly apologized, and some started to laugh while Ippo went back to arguing with Takamura. When it became clear that Ippo wasn’t going to join them, she felt bad that they were having a party over his victory without him, but it was his choice. She had to admit to herself that if it was her 800 thousand yen to spend, she wouldn’t know if the bills would flow like water or if she’d end up hoarding it. Staring at his face as they left, how pained he looked that everyone was leaving, she just wanted to yell at him to live a little for once and join them. Thankfully, he changed his mind and joined of his own volition.

The group was seated at a table for ten. Unconsciously, both sides arranged according to their own ranking: the men were ordered from champion to runt, and the women were ordered by seniority. Thankfully, this not only allowed Jun to be as far away from Takamura as possible, but it also seated her next to Mashiba’s sister.

As the menus were being handed out, Jun tried to clear the air. “I’m sorry, Mashiba-san, I meant no disrespect to you or your brother back there. I just got excited and… forgot his name.”

She turned and smiled. “It’s okay. His name is Ryo, by the way.”

Jun felt embarrassed, but played along. “Right. Oh, my name is Tagawa, Jun. Nice to meet you!” She gently bowed.

She lilted her head in return. “Mashiba, Kumi. Nice to meet you, too!”

Jun pondered. _Kumi… I think I’ve heard that name once or twice before, but never paid attention._

“Not many people get excited about my brother. Are you a fan of his?” Kumi was rather bemused.

Aoki was eavesdropping on the conversation and had his own curiosity. _Yeah, Himomame-kun, why’d you lose your shit like that for the enemy?_

Jun opened the menu and idly glanced about it to avoid direct eye contact. “Ah, to be honest, I’ve never seen any of his fights. It’s just that there’s a clipping of his bout with Makunouchi-san at the gym, and when I first arrived there, it was inspiring to me that I wasn’t the only skinny guy fighting tooth and nail to stay upright.”

The explanation surprisingly made sense to Aoki, and thus gave Jun a pass.

Kumi was looking across the table, where Ippo was conducting his own little banter about his Volg match with the other nurses. “That… was a hard match to watch...” She turned back to Jun, smiling again. “But even though it bothers me that my brother gets so beat up, I’m glad he could be an inspiration for you.”

Jun was relieved to be in the clear. “Is it possible you could thank him for me?” she smirked.

“If you want, I can introduce you to him and you can thank him personally.” Kumi sipped at her water with a coquettish grin.

Jun lit up. “Really!? That would be great!”

A foot kicked into Jun’s leg. Jostled, Jun looked over in confused irritation. Aoki was glaring at her from over the lip of the water glass, giving a near imperceptible shake of the head as he took a long sip.

Jun briefly turned back to Kumi. “Aheh! Hold on a second.” She leaned back over to Aoki. “What do you want.”

“What do you think you’re doing, man?” Aoki whispered low and stern.

“Trying to be a fucking gentleman.” Jun whispered back in clenched teeth.

“Well, stop brown-nosing Ippo’s girl,” Aoki said unwittingly.

Jun’s eyebrows lifted as high as they would go, a smile spreading a second later. Suddenly, Aoki regretted letting the secret slip to the guy with a broken filter.

“WAIT, YOU MEAN—” Jun started off with her usual excited volume, but Aoki quickly put a tight arm around her shoulder and pulled in.

“Oh yeah, you should DEFINITELY try the teriyaki wings!” Aoki interrupted at a slightly louder volume. Immediately upon finishing the sentence, he hissed the critical message to her. “SHHHUSH, SHUT UP, JUN...”

He let her go with a few slaps on the back. She eyed him with an arched brow. “Okay, then, I will!”

Of course, after ordering, Jun now had to wait and sit quietly, which was going to be impossible now that she had all of this excitement bubbling inside of her. Gratefully, she had planned ahead and pulled her carving knife and a branch stub out from her inner coat pocket, spreading her napkin across the table. As she started shaving off the outer bark, the chit-chat around her had turned more inquisitive.

“Tagawa-san… what exactly are you doing?” Kumi was the first to be direct, but sincerely curious.

“Woodcarving. I get bored easily.”

Ippo smiled. “Oh yeah, Tagawa-san is really good at it!”

Takamura asserted his dominance over the conversation. “Absolutely! He carved a statue of my head! Obviously, it was a token of respect and admiration for his senpai!”

Jun rolled her eyes, only of which Aoki and Kumi had the perspective of seeing, both of which were quietly holding in laughter. She did lift her head to address the group as a whole.

“Well, if anyone has a request, I can give it a try. Anyone?”

Takamura went first. “Do me!”

Kimura muttered under his breath. “He already did, you...*grumble*”

One of the prettier women was indecisive. “I don’t know, maybe a bird?”

Kumi managed a request. “Perhaps a dog?”

The homely lady liked the idea. “Ooo, can you do a shiba inu? That’s my favorite breed!”

“The one with the curly tail, right?” Jun wanted to make sure she had the right mental image before cutting out large chunks.

“Yeah, and a cute, squishy widdle face!”

Jun smiled and went to work. Everyone else went back to their conversations while Kumi watched intently. A bulk of the form was carved out by the time the food arrived, and Jun quickly cleaned up and put everything back in her pocket before going to wash her hands. She briefly stopped herself to make sure that she was going in the men’s room.

Along with the food, came the bottles of sake and beer. When offered a drink, Jun politely declined.

“Wait, how old are you again?” Aoki asked.

“Nineteen.” Jun sipped at her water.

Takamura still had to give her a hard time from across the table. “Oh come on, Himomame-kun! Have a drink or two! Don’t be shy!”

Jun was still trying to dodge the issue. “I don’t like the taste of alcohol.”

This gave Takamura the ammo for revenge that he was waiting for. “But you’re fine with the taste of creepy-crawly bugs? Mr. I-eat-cricket-paste?”

The women were caught off guard, a couple started giggling and asking if it was true. The guys looked uncomfortable that Jun was put on the spot like this, but weren’t too eager to defend her. Jun knew she had to keep her cool, but decided to call the bluff and show her own hand.

“Insects never smashed a bottle of whiskey across my head and tried slashing my face with the broken end, so they leave a better taste in my mouth.” Jun pulled the hair away from her temple to show a small cluster of scars. “Does that answer your question?” The table went quiet, save for the sound of shifting in seats. Jun didn’t want to linger on the sour note of her past, and especially didn’t want to bring down the whole evening, so she decided to turn it around. “...But, I guess that was a long time ago. If it’ll satisfy your curiosity, I will try ONE drink, but that’s it.”

The group was still uncomfortable about pressuring a young kid to drink, except Takamura and his toothy grin.

“YOSH! That’s what I wanted to hear!”

As the guys reluctantly passed the sake bottle down the line, Jun attempted to lighten the mood once more.

“I get the feeling I’m going to have to drink the worm from a tequila bottle someday...”

Aoki poured her a serving and handed it over. This wasn’t the first time Jun had to do something unpleasant to save face, nor was it going to be the last time, so she did what she usually does; take action before common sense could kick in.

“Kampai, I guess...” She saluted the cup before slamming it back like she would for cough syrup. Despite aiming for the back of the throat, it still sloshed before going down. The resulting coughing fit and theatrics sated the vindictive goon at the other end of the table and spawned guarded laughter from everyone else. “UUUGHH, WOW.” Jun chased the taste out of her mouth with a gulp of water. It had only been a few minutes for her skinny body to absorb it on an empty stomach. Things started to tilt and float in her vision. “Ohhh, wow. That hit fast. Damn.”

“Are… are you going to be okay?” Kumi timidly asked.

“Yeah, if it’s just one drink, I’ll be fine!” Jun said with more exuberance than usual. “So tell me, how long have you known Ippo for? A few months?”

Aoki did not like where things were headed. If Jun’s filter was broken while sober, then it just fell off like a rusted muffler. He kicked Jun in the leg again, only to get a heel cut right back into his shin. Aoki had a much less convincing poker face than Jun did.

“Um, to be honest, I first met him over a year ago.” Kumi fidgeted with her plate of stir fry.

“Really! That long, huh?” Jun absentmindedly touched a wing to her lips. To Aoki’s relief, Jun got distracted by the taste of the teriyaki sauce. “Oh hey, these ARE great! Thanks, Aoki! I need to learn how to cook these...”

“You know how to cook?” Kumi raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, hell yeah! I may not look it, but I LOVE making my own food! Cooking over a campfire is the best! You get that nice, smoky flavor… Mmm!” Jun took a huge bite and polished off the wing, the second one readied in her other hand.

Kumi giggled. “So you like camping, too? That sounds like fun!”

“It is the BEST! Everything is just so much better when you experience it out in nature… and I do mean EVERYTHING! Fresh air, fresh food, you get to sleep under the stars...” Jun spread her hands out for emphasis.

Meanwhile, Ippo was watching the buzzed Tagawa-san being overtly friendly with Kumi, much to his discomfort. Takamura making lewd conversation next to him was not helping any, either. Ippo’s attention was sharply brought back by Takamura’s sudden address across the table.

“Oi, OI! Keep it down over there, I’m telling a story!” Takamura slammed his fist on the tabletop, rattling the dishes.

Jun slowly turned to him and sneered. “Piss off, Cock-a-mura.”

“WHAT WAS THAT?”

Jun leaned way over the table, with one hand propping herself up and the other hand pointing a loaded wing at Takamura’s face. “You wanted to get this tiiiny string bean to drink, well, this is what I’m like, then. I know for a fact that my loud mouth gets me in trouble on the best days, and I’ve been DYING to tell you all the shit that’s on my mind...”

Takamura leaned in on an elbow, ready to flip the table at a moments notice. Only the guys were aware of the impending danger. “Oh really? Spill, then.”

Jun stated her warning out loud more for herself than for Takamura. With drunken ramblings inside of her rattling for an escape, she knew she had to think fast to divert the conversational flow of the evening back to pleasantries.

“Well, for ONE…” She narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth in a stare down with the man. Her eyes diverted down to the spread on the table. “I want one of those egg rolls! I haven’t had one in forever! TWO… I’ll trade a wing for one. AND THREE…”

She paused for a moment to give the gears a few extra turns for her to speak calmly. “… The main difference between you and me is that when I pitch a tent in public, it’s called camping. When YOU pitch a tent in public, it’s because the new issue of H Ladies hit the stands!”

Silence. Takamura’s face twisted out a demented smile. “That’s the only tent you CAN pitch, dinky dick!” Kimura and Aoki were the first to desperately try to hold in laughter. Jun had hoped he would take the bait, now to set the hook. She dropped her smile, then tilted the chicken wing in her finger and looked at it with disappointment. She eased into the reaction to give Takamura time to reload. Sure enough, he gave the response she was gambling for. “Even that meat is bigger than yours!” Takamura was so proud of himself for that one.

Kimura and Aoki burst into giggle fits, which spread to Takamura. As added emphasis, Jun let the wing drop limply in between her fingers. This time, others started to laugh, and even Ippo couldn’t help himself. Jun slowly sank back to her seat to let Takamura take charge of the conversation again. Kumi felt bad for the dejected boy next to her until she heard Jun breathe a sigh of relief.

“Whew, that was a close one.” Jun muttered.

“Nice save, Dinky.” Aoki leaned in to whisper.

“Eat my meat.” Jun said with a smirk and a twirl of the wing. “Seriously though, next time don’t kick me in the leg. Just shove a wing in my face and tell me to cram it.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Aoki saluted with his beer.

Jun took a bite out of the offending wing and glanced over to her side. Kumi was shaking her head, but with a smirk. Jun shrugged it off and continued eating.

The night went on at the bowling lanes. The older woman lit a cigarette and smoked off to the side as the others attended the front desk. With the lane paid for, Aoki pulled the guys aside to talk about how this bowling match was to decide the order of who gets to pick out the girl to take home. Jun thought this was asinine, and quite frankly didn’t care, but went with it anyway. Ippo was pulled to the side, but not far enough away.

Kimura hammered in the point about this whole deal to Ippo while Jun eavesdropped at the ball rack. “No wonder he wanted to plan the night. Like hell this is fair. Bastard’s got amazing skill in bowling. His nickname was ‘No Miss Ao-chan.’ I don’t know how we’ll keep up, but we have to try. You had better try, too. If you come in last place, you’ll see hell. You’ll end up with the old maid and Jun could go home with Kumi! Trust me, you do NOT want that to happen. Jun has his own hidden skill...”

Jun didn’t need to see him to know that he was making an obscene gesture to make his inference clear as day. As Ippo wandered over to pick out a ball, Jun could see his nervous gaze towards her out of the corner of her eye.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s just trying to throw you off.” Jun didn’t bother looking up from her selection.

“Y-yeah, y-you’re probably right...”

“… But you DO want to go home with Kumi, right?” Jun pointedly asked.

Ippo fumbled about. “Eeh! I, uh, umm… Well, uhhh...”

“Aoki said that she was your girl, so I get it.” Jun hefted a green ball, and put it back.

“He seriously said that!? That— that’s not true!” Ippo flushed. A finger pointed towards his nose, pulling his focus back forward.

“...Yet!” Jun made a shooting motion with her index finger and winked. “It’s okay man, I’ll take the old maid! Just focus on doing your best! Now hurry it up, they’re waiting on us.” Jun yanked a blue ball from the rack with unconscious double entendre.

As the game progressed, Aoki led as planned while Kimura and Takamura took second and third place, leaving both Ippo and Jun to their learning curve. However, they learned quickly and surprisingly held their own. Before they knew it, Kimura and Takamura were tied, with Ippo and Jun both having the potential to knock them down to fourth and fifth place. Ippo only needed three pins and Jun needed eight to gain a lead.

Ippo whispered to Jun. “I thought you were taking the old maid? You’re playing rather seriously...”

“I will, but I also don’t want to lose on purpose.” She whispered, giving a side glare at Takamura. _I want to make you sweat, you bastard._

Jun took her last shot, and dropped the two jaws behind her with a strike.

“Yes! Second place!” She whistled a peppier version of the funeral march as she passed by the group. Ippo was still optimistic as the other two glared daggers at him.

Kimura had one last chance to throw a wrench in the works. He whispered to Ippo as he pulled his ball from the return. “Dude, you had better pull a strike if you want to keep Himomame-kun away from Kumi-chan...”

“It’s okay, he said he’d forfeit his choice.”

“And you BELIEVED him?” Kimura looked at him incredulously. Ippo’s smile faltered as he looked back at Jun, arms slung over the bench and legs crossed with relaxed confidence. Jun noticed his glance and gave him the thumbs up. Ippo tried to patch his broken smile back to genuine, but it was no use. He turned back to Kimura, who had one last thing to say before moving out of the lane. “Remember, he was chatting her up at dinner...”

Ippo did his best to maintain focus and give it his all, but at the last second he remembered Kimura making the gesture for oral sex behind Jun’s back earlier and it threw him off so completely that he got a gutter ball. The two howled and danced in the glory of their last minute reprieve.

As the group came back together, Jun broke the news to the rest that she was planning on taking last place anyway, and offered to switch with Ippo, much to Kimura’s surprise and Ippo’s relief.

“So the fight against last place was for nothing?” Kimura was deflated.

“Not exactly. Ippo is my boss, after all. But, if Dinky Dick had the opportunity for revenge, it could have gone differently.” Jun not so subtly jabbed at Takamura. “So go take your pick, fellas.”

Jun stood back and watched. She honestly wasn’t expecting Aoki to pick the homely woman, which now made Jun curious. The intimidating older lady was flirting with Takamura, but he completely blew past her in favor of the wavy haired pretty girl. Kimura approached the other decent looking woman, and Ippo just stood there like a blushing idiot not far from Kumi. _Uh-oh…_ Jun watched the scorned woman as her scowl creased the crow’s feet through her makeup. The woman then darted her line of sight right at Jun. Standing alone with the bowling shoes still on her feet and teriyaki sauce stains on her shirt, this skinny leftover tried to be polite with a smile, but could only muster a twitch at one corner of her mouth. The lady lowered her eyelids in exasperation, pulled out a cigarette, and walked out towards the door. When the group exited, Jun realized the lady ditched her. She was ninety percent relieved and ten percent pissed off. Jun instinctively went to talk to Ippo and Kumi.

“Well, that sucks. I guess she wasn’t interested.” Jun kicked at a pebble, forcing herself not to smile through her lie.

“Sakamoto-san prefers to get her own way, unfortunately.” Kumi looked to the side with a pensive look. The pairs split into two groups; Aoki, Takamura, and their dates heading further into the city, while the rest of them hung back at the entrance.

Takamura yelled towards them. “Oooi, we’re off to the karaoke bar!”

“What are you guys doing?” Aoki followed up.

Kimura pointed a thumb towards Kumi and his own date, Reiko. “These two have to get up early, so we’ll escort them home.”

“What about you, Tagawa? You want to join us?” Aoki insisted.

Jun’s eye twitched at the thought of expending any more energy near that gorilla Takamura, much less being forced to hear him sing off key, or worse… having to sing herself. “Thanks, but I think I’ll head back as well.”

The groups parted ways, and Jun stood next to Kumi while Kimura pulled Ippo aside for a secret message.

“All in all, it was a fun night.” Jun turned to Kumi and bowed. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Mashiba-san! Give my regards to Ryo as well.” Her voice turned to a whisper, “Oh, and if Ippo encounters any issues taking you home, here’s his number.” She whipped out one of the fishing boat business cards from her inner pocket. With Kumi befuddled as to why Jun had one of Ippo’s business cards, she explained. “Makunouchi-san has been kind enough to let me stay at his place and work until I can save up for an apartment, so don’t be alarmed if I happen to answer the phone.”

“Oh! Thank you. But, are you sure you don’t want to come along?” Kumi gingerly accepted the card.

Jun confusedly smiled, wondering why she would refuse private time with Ippo. “Oh, well, he’s—” She went to go point to him, but noticed he wasn’t next to them anymore, but rather walking off with Kimura and his date for some reason.

Jun shrugged. “Uhhh, alright… I guess I’ll take you home, then?”

Kimura started fussing at Ippo, pointing to them. After whispering something to Ippo, he frantically jaunted back over to the two of them.

“Ah! Kumi-san! Is it still okay for you— for me to take you back home?” Ippo tripped over his words.

Kumi looked from one to the other. “Tagawa-san was looking forward to meeting my brother, and since you two have to go back to the same place anyway, I don’t see why not!”

Ippo didn’t know whether to get upset at this unfortunate third wheel, or see it as an opportunity for Jun to distract Mashiba from beating his head in. In the end, he did not want to argue with Kumi, so he went with it.

The three of them boarded the train with Kumi sitting in between them for the ride home. At first not much was said, but Jun started muttering to herself.

“Where have I smelled that before? It’s bugging me so badly...”

“I’m sorry? Is something wrong, Tagawa-san?” Kumi interrupted her train of thought.

“Oh! No, it’s just that… well, this is going to sound awkward, but I keep smelling a very familiar scent, and I’m not sure if it’s perfume or what it is. It has to be flowers of some kind...”

“Flowers?”

“Yeah, I keep smelling flowers! It’s been bugging me all night.”

Kumi blushed a little. “Um, I do use a shampoo and conditioner that has little red flowers on the bottle...”

“Little red…! THAT’S IT!” Jun’s outburst startled the two of them. “Alpine flowers! That’s why it was bugging me, because that was one of my biggest memories of backpacking through Bandai Asahi National Park!” Jun started her story. “About a year and a half ago, I was working my way through one of the valleys when I came across this sprawling field of wildflowers, going on for miles! It was so beautiful, and it smelled heavenly! It was around there that I discovered my favorite food of all time— wild honey! I took a few stings getting to it, but that honey was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted.”

Jun sat back down, misty eyed. “Aaaahh, I miss that place so much! It was a lot of fun then. Have you ever been there, Kumi-san?”

“No, I can’t say I have, but it sounds nice.”

“I hope someday I can go back there and taste that honey, just one more time in my life.” Jun took a deep breath and relaxed. A beat passed and Jun continued. “What’s your favorite food of all time, Kumi-san?”

“That’s a tough one. I do like ice cream… but, I’d have to say that kare-raisu is my favorite. I have a lot of fond memories of Mom cooking it for us on Saturdays.”

Jun couldn’t help but have a mental image of Hiroko doing the same thing. “Awww, that sounds nice!” She noticed movement beyond Kumi and saw Ippo getting uncomfortable. “What’s your favorite food, Ippo?”

He flinched to attention at hearing his name, and realized what the question was. “Me? Uh, wow, I don’t know. Donburi, I guess?”

Kumi giggled.

“What KIND of donburi?” Jun wanted to laugh herself.

“Oh! Ummm… Uh, unagi don … yeah.”

Throughout the train ride and up to Kumi’s house, Jun kept asking the two of them all about their favorites: colors, animals, seasons, TV shows, movies, books, and so on. In the end, Ippo was rather grateful that Jun provided entertaining conversation along the way that helped him find out a lot more about Kumi than he would have otherwise. However, now came the unpleasant part for him; inevitably bumping into the big brother.

“So this is your place, huh? Looks good.” Jun observed the second story layout.

“Yeah, home sweet home. … Would you like to come in for some coffee?” Kumi offered.

Jun looked over her shoulder to Ippo. He was looking intense with a rosy glow spreading across his face. She turned back to Kumi. “Do you have any tea?”

She smiled. “Of course!”

Jun turned back to Ippo and waved her arm over. “Come on, Ippo, let’s go have a nightcap!” She ended up having to go over to him and pull him by the sleeve up the stairs.

“My brother should be home by now. It’s kind of embarrassing, but we have a picture of Makunouchi-san on the wall...” Kumi explained. Jun hid her gape of amazement from Kumi and aimed it directly at Ippo. He was on an emotional rollercoaster, not knowing what to make of any of it.

Kumi flicked on the lights upon entering. “Thank you, the both of you, for keeping me company on the way home. It would have been lonely otherwise.”

“Glad to help, Kumi-san!” Jun gave a small salute. She felt Ippo come to a dead stop behind her, and she instinctively turned around. “… Oh, wow.”

Ippo was staring with shocked displeasure at his picture on the wall with the nail hammered straight through his head. Jun thought it was funny.

“He always looks at that to get pumped up.” Kumi thought it was funny, too.

“I’m glad he didn’t frame it first.” Jun joked. “Or put a second nail here...” She pointed to dead center of Ippo’s boxing trunks. Ippo inwardly cringed.

Upon looking around, there was no sign of Ryo anywhere. “Huh? I guess he’s not here yet,” Kumi sighed.

The responses between Ippo and Jun were polar opposites of relief and disappointment. “Humm. Uh, if it’s no bother, may I use your facilities?” Jun inquired.

“Oh no, not at all! It’s down the hall, to the right,” she mentioned on her way to the kitchen to prepare the drinks.

Jun had been holding it ever since the start of the bowling match. She absolutely hated having to use gendered bathrooms in public for obvious reasons. It was also the reason why she kept talking the whole way over; to keep her mind off of her bladder. Jun wanted to take her time coming out of the bathroom. _I wish I had known that Ippo had a girlfriend… wait, are they together yet? They don’t seem like it. In fact, it looked like it was a surprise to everyone else that she came along. Damn. If I had known, I would have stayed out of the affair completely. Then again, when would I have ever gotten the chance to meet the horseman of hunger and desperation himself, Mashiba Ryo? I need to prepare myself to meet him. BE CORDIAL, HIMOMAME-KUN! … But don’t go shoulder deep kissing his ass, either…!! Ah jeez, I’ve had these sauce stains on my shirt this whole time?!_

After washing her hands and dabbing at her shirt, she wondered if there was still alcohol in her system making her feel chatty. Psyching herself out at the mirror, she heard Ippo frantically yelling out in the living room. After a quick zipper check and a hair smoothing, she hurried out into the hallway. “Is everything… all… right?”

She took in the whole scene. Ippo cowering at the feet of Mashiba Ryo, who stood up straight from his crouching and glared straight through Jun. She felt her whole core tense up.

“You brought ANOTHER ONE HERE?” Ryo’s forehead vein bulged.

“Aaaah! That’s right, T-Tagawa-san wanted to meet you!” Ippo hurriedly scrambled over to Jun and pushed her forward, using her as a meat shield. Jun looked behind her in confusion, not understanding how the man who defeated Ryo would act this way, but her attention was forced back to the menacing aura that set her senses ablaze. When she came to a stop, all she could do was stare. Despite her instincts ringing all the warning bells and flying all the red flags, there was only one lone little thought flapping in the breeze of her giant brain fart.

_Wow! He’s tall, and smells so nice! I think it’s sandalwood..._

The rush of excitement grew her grin to shit eating levels. In a voice more peppy than she expected, she delivered her stock greeting. “Hi! I’m Tagawa Jun. Nice to meet you!”

The only thing that moved on Ryo was his mouth, and only barely. “Are you a friend of that cowering shit stain?”

Instinctively, Jun adopted the prayer stance. “No, I’m a friend, coworker, and gym mate to the cowering shit stain. To differentiate, you can call me teriyaki shirt stain.” Ryo’s face tightened, with wrinkles creeping past his temples. He gave a low, assenting growl. Jun continued. “May we join you two for tea and coffee? I promise we’ll be out of your hair by the time I can read the leaves.”

Kumi was surprised. “You can read tea leaves?”

Jun turned, not missing a beat. “Not exactly, but if I see a tiny middle finger at the bottom of my cup, I think I can figure out what that would mean.”

Kumi couldn’t help giggling, but the wrinkles increased on Ryo’s stoic visage. “Sit,” he ordered.

Ippo was practically glued to Jun’s side as they sat down in tandem, to her irritation. Kumi scooted over to the fourth edge of the table and poured Jun a cup.

“How many lumps?” Kumi asked, holding up the sugar.

Jun slowly turned to look at Ryo. He was still angry. Without breaking eye contact, she answered. “Two in the cup, and none to the head, if I can help it.”

“Do you want some tea as well, Onii-chan?”

“No.” Ryo was not having much of anything tonight except a tight jaw.

“Ah, thank you so much.” Jun grasped the teacup offered to her. She stirred the cubes until they dissolved and took a sip, giving her time to mentally change gears. “Anyway, as I’ve stated, I’m a new member at Kamogawa Gym, however I only happened to find the place by sheer luck. When I first arrived in Tokyo a month ago, I was a disgusting-looking vagrant with little hope of surviving the winter. The guys at Kamogawa Gym offered me water after I collapsed, and while I was recovering, I saw the newspaper article framed on the wall about your match with Makunouchi-san. It felt like a wake-up call.” She paused to take another sip. “Although Ippo was the one to help me out in a physical sense, it was YOU, Mashiba Ryo, that provided the inner motivation. For a long time, I ran like a scared rat from place to place. I could have given my thanks that day and moved on elsewhere, but the sight of your feral eyes in that photo made my skinny ass stop running and fight, even when I felt like I was stuck in a losing scenario.” She took a longer pull at the tea. “You reminded me that I’ve survived a lot, and I shouldn’t let that survival go to waste. So, in an indirect way, you helped change my fate, and I wanted to thank you for it. I wish I could offer a gift—” A thought sparked in her head while Kumi and Ippo were enamored with her speech. “Dammit, I forgot to finish carving the dog!!” Jun zipped up from the table and went over to her coat to search the pockets. Ippo and Kumi were not expecting the outburst. Ryo’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Oh yeah, the little dog at the dinner table!” Kumi remembered.

Jun pulled the knife out with it and brought it to the table. “Crap, and I said I would be out of here by the time I finished my cup!” She quickly downed the cup of tea and placed it underneath the carving. When she popped the safety cap off of the knife, Ryo bristled.

“You had a KNIFE on you this whole time??”

Ippo started shuddering again. Jun answered before Ippo could fumble out an excuse. “Well, when you’re a shrimpy kid, you carry a knife that fits the aesthetic.” She tried to go as quickly and as safely as possible while the heat rose to her right side.

“Kumi, did you know this kid had a weapon while you were out?” Ryo seethed, trying to burn a hole through Jun’s temple with his gaze. Kumi shrugged while Jun remained focused on the carving.

“It’s a tool, Mashiba-san. I’m an artist, and I can’t carve wood without it.” The knife twirled through her fingers like a baton before returning to the piece. She decided to explain herself further. “Woodcarving has become an excellent outlet for my nerves. It helps me practice dexterity and patience. One of the more amazing aspects about it that I realized recently is that with the ability to create something amazing out of the mundane, you can invoke strong emotions from people that you couldn’t have done otherwise. I don’t have much by way of physical strength, social status, riches, and so forth, but with a simple piece of wood and a knife, I can wield the power of a god.” She took a brief moment to focus on some details before presenting the carving with a flourish. “And I can guarantee you here and now that I would sooner cut off my thumbs than to ever put your sister in danger.”

Ryo was quiet, but still wary. Jun returned the cap to her knife and set it down on the table.

She handed the dog carving over to Kumi. “Here you go! Just make sure to feed him and don’t let him poop on the carpet.”

Kumi giggled loudly before looking at the carving in awe. It was still considerably rough, but now it looked more like a proper shiba inu. “Wow, thank you!”

“No problem, Kumi-san. I know your friend was the one who requested it, so if you want another carving, I can make it for you at a later time.”

“Oh, I forgot that it was Tomiko-san who asked for it. Thank you so much!”

Ippo was agape at how smoothly Jun was handling this whole situation. He was in no hurry to jinx the good luck by saying or doing anything. A hand slapped his back.

“Well, it’s getting late, and we need to get to work in the morning. Ready to go, Ippo?”

“Y-yes!”

While getting up, something nagged at Jun in retrospect. “By the way, Kumi-san, do you know any self defense?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, not really. My brother usually handles that for me.” She took a gentle sip of tea.

Jun didn’t like the thought of Kumi not having a plan B in place. “Really? You should at least learn a few maneuvers, just in case he isn’t around if someone tries to pull a blade bigger than a thumbnail...” She turned to Ippo, who had his coat on as well as a dopey look. She got an idea.

“Hey, Ippo, stand right here for a second.” Not sure of what was happening, he obliged. Jun started the demonstration. “One of the things you can do Kumi-san, is buy yourself enough time to run away from an attacker. The simplest way to do this is what’s called a single leg take down. You plant your feet like this, then you grab the leg around the knee and push in with your shoulder as hard as you can… LIKE THIS!” She knocked Ippo to the ground using the technique, much to his surprise. “Once you do that, you run like hell!”

Kumi started up from the table, worried. “Oh my goodness, are you okay, Makunouchi-san?!”

Ippo got up and rubbed the back of his head. “It’s okay, I’ve had much worse. Tagawa-san did give me a warning by explaining it!”

A sinister chuckle broke the conversation. “Ku hu hu… Very interesting, Tagawa. Do they teach that at the gym, too?”

“No, it’s something I learned in a Jiu Jitsu class a long time ago. It came in handy a few times.”

Ryo stood up and leered over Jun. “You say you don’t have much by way of strength, and yet you can knock him down, easy.”

“That’s the point! It’s all about removing the opponent’s balance and using their own weight against them. It’s like knocking over a glass of water; you can only do it if you know where to apply force relative to the center of gravity. When you know what to do, you don’t need strength when the ground acts as a giant fist.”

“I guess it makes sense… I am curious though to know just how hard you punch. Care to try it?” Ryo held out his hand at mitt height. Jun eyed him suspiciously, but was a bit curious, herself.

“Please, don’t...” Ippo whispered behind her. She refused to listen, and put herself in an orthodox stance.

“Onii-chan, really? He’s a guest!” Kumi protested in vain.

Focusing on the hand, Jun did a split second review in her head before drawing up the energy from her feet and through her body to get ready for a punch. A slight movement in his hand kicked in her instinct to duck halfway through the gear up. Sure enough, Ryo whipped his hand forward over her head. She listened to the air around her while watching his elbow return to its spot. When it stopped, she whipped herself forward in a right straight, hitting his hand squarely. She had put everything into the hit, but his arm barely nudged from the impact. Ippo was chagrined that he expected something more bombastic.

Ryo calmly stuck his hand back in his pocket. “Just as I thought. You’re pathetic.”

Jun idly kicked a foot forward and rubbed the back of her head. “I knowwww, I have a long way to go before I’m any good.”

Ryo went into the hitman stance, swinging his left rhythmically. “Want me to show you how a real punch feels like?”

Ippo started to panic. That was the very last thing he wanted to see for the rest of his life, and now Jun was under threat. Both he and Kumi shouted “No!” at the same time.

Jun gave a worried smirk. “Uh, sorry, I don’t feel like spattering blood across your nice apartment. Plus, I’d much rather Kumi-san only bandage wounds while on the clock. Maybe some other time.”

Ryo resumed his normal posture with arms crossed. This time he had a smirk of his own. “Sounds good to me.”

Ippo let out the breath he was holding and decided it was time to hurry on out before anything else happened. “Okay, Tagawa-san! Time to go home! Thank you so much for the tea, Kumi-san! Have a good night!”

Jun quickly nabbed her knife and coat while Ippo was trying to push her out the door. He hurried her along down the stairs and out into the street. Ippo panted way more from stress hyperventilation than from exertion.

“What was that all about?! I thought we were going to die!” Ippo spouted between breaths.

Something was rankling at the back of Jun’s head, like she forgot something. “That was just me dealing with a black bear, Ippo.”

“I think a black bear would be less scary.” Ippo straightened himself out with a final sigh. “It’s late, and I don’t think we can take a train back. We’re going to have to call for a cab.”

“I only have 1300 yen on me. Care to split?”

“You shouldn’t have to pay, though. You’re trying to save up.” He was secretly cheered up that not everyone was trying to leech off of his purse winnings that night.

“We’ll figure it out as we go… Hey Ippo? Do you know where to go hail a taxi?”

“I have no idea.” Ippo scratched his head. A finger pointed down the street from behind him. “Oh, that way? Thanks!” It took him a hot second to realize that it was Ryo’s hand. He started cowering again and apologizing.

“Jeez, I just wanted to say goodbye, but whatever.” Ryo stated nonchalantly. “We both have title matches coming up. I’m gonna win! And you...”

Ippo perked up a bit. _He did seem to relax from Tagawa-san’s interactions. Maybe he wants to wish me good luck?_

Ryo wasn’t done yet. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m gonna be the one to end you. Make arrangements while you can.”

As he turned around back to the apartment, Jun called out to him. “Mashiba-san, wait!”

He stopped, looking down at her. She went into a wide braced stance and held out her hand. “I need to know what your punch feels like!”

The fire in her eyes made him smile and go back to the hitman stance. Swinging, swinging, swinging. Jun kept chanting to herself to not flinch. She tightened her resolve as much as possible from her wrist to her ankles. His arm seemed to swing for an eternity until finally it whipped the air in an instant, cracking against her palm hard enough to knock her off balance and send her tumbling on her ass.

“Like a glass of water, huh?” He said glibly.

“GAAAAaaah!” Jun tried her best not to scream high pitched. She whipped back up off of the ground, flicking her arm to get the circulation back. With every last colorful mutter exhausted, she took a full breath and started laughing like crazy and bouncing around on excited footwork. “Thank you for the opportunity, Mashiba-san!”

Ryo started laughing a little with her. “I like you, kid! You’ve got guts.” He fully intended his words as a jab at Ippo, but Jun took it as a high compliment. He watched as they made their way to the nearest intersection, noticing that Jun was starting to pester Ippo for a test punch as well. _Not bad, kid._ He opened his palm where Jun had left a tiny red mark in the middle. _Not bad. You kept decent manners and stood up to me. You’re funny as hell, too._ He closed his fist with a resolution. _But if you ever touch Kumi, I’ll be carving you up and displaying the pieces at my doorstep as a warning._

CHAPTER 7 END...

Kumi poked her head out of the door. “Onii-chan, what were you doing? I heard screaming...” She yelled.

Ryo came back in and sat down at the table. “Tagawa requested a souvenir. He was so happy and thankful for it, too.”

“You guys are so weird.” Kumi wandered off to her bedroom to get changed.

Ryo looked over at the wooden carving for a few seconds before picking it up to examine the details. He started dancing the figurine across the table. “C’mon, boy, get rid of the evidence. Thaaat’s it...” He imitated the dog eating at an unseen corpse.

“Did you say something, Onii-chan?” Kumi peered out from beyond her door. He quickly pocketed the dog and moved away from the table.

“Nothing...” He called out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • I have no idea what the LGBT scene was in Japan in the 90’s, but I assume it closely reflected the US’s stance of, “don’t talk about it unless you want to use ‘gay’ as an insult.” As such, Jun just has to muddle her way through the long, dark path of misinformation and denial.   
>  • The fifth nurse, Sakamoto-san, was inspired by an old ANIMERICA review of Weather Woman. Takamura had no idea that, if he had only chosen Sakamoto-san, not only would he have seen some action that night, Jun would have been up shit creek, too.  
>  • As for Ryo, I figured that if he has an appreciation for motorcycles, he might have an appreciation for artistry. It’s interesting how often the quiet ones speak up around a working artist.


	8. PEELING AWAY THE BARK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING! There's some naughty bits here, and Jun recalling trauma.  
> \------

The shadows from the kitchen night light stretched across the living room. The night was already into the AM hours, but Jun just couldn’t get to sleep. She tossed to her side and pulled her feet in under the covers. Her arm and back still rang from the whip-like punch. So far, she had never dared to engage in any of the gym members for a spar, since she was still in a fragile state. As frightening as it was to risk entering the ring only to get knocked out and her secret revealed, the adrenaline high she experienced earlier made her want more.

_Sparring will be inevitable if I stay at the gym. Of course, Ippo’s going to tell everyone that I challenged Mashiba-san, and then they’re all going to be out for my neck to tamp down my cockiness. He is the enemy, after all._

Jun turned back around in bed to stare at the ceiling again and sighed. _What if they find me out? No, not if, when. The likelihood of everything blowing up in my face skyrockets once summer arrives. Still, if I can make it to spring, then even the worst case scenario of me being homeless again is something I can have confidence in surviving now._

She clenched the covers, the threat of tears stinging at her eyelids. _But I don’t WANT to be homeless again. I like it here. I like coming to the gym and working out. I like having people smile at me— smile with me, and I like being clean and smelling nice._

The Mashiba siblings immediately came to mind for the term ‘smelling nice.’ _I have to find myself some better deodorant, because DAMN, I want to smell that good!_ She briefly smiled to herself before returning to serious thought. _I had a feeling that Ryo would be pissed off at his former opponent bringing a stranger inside his house, but Ippo’s panicking made it ten times worse. Good thing for power in numbers, I guess._ Her mind reviewed how Ryo’s reactions played out, how he lightened up at the moment she knocked Ippo to the floor, and finally the last words he said before they left. She started to blush. _So you like me, huh? Maybe I like you, too…_

The following morning was rough. Jun’s stomach apparently didn’t like the previous night’s teriyaki curve ball and made the morning difficult. Jun was dressed and ready to help Hiroko when Ippo asked if she could change shifts to come with him to the gym. Jun thought this was unusual considering he just recovered from the fight, and suspected correctly of his intentions. Ippo wanted to have backup for when the guys grill him on the previous night’s encounter. He felt they wouldn’t believe him otherwise.

“I just feel bad that you had to fend for yourself, and I don’t want you to have to do that at the gym later, too.” Ippo clarified. “I’m sorry, Tagawa-san. I need to make it up to you somehow.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. If need be, I’ll just call in a favor when I’m in trouble.” Jun was not sure she could rely on him to come through on one, considering last night’s cowardly behavior, but he did come through for her when things were at their darkest. She figured that now was as good a time as any to start saving up good will for when her identity comes out down the road.

Ippo was hoping that this favor wouldn’t be Mashiba related. “Y-yeah, sure!”

On their way out, Jun plucked an old backpack she found in the closet when digging out her loaner coat. Before leaving, she put a single rock in it to carry to the gym. Ippo found this curious, but didn’t question it.

Upon arriving, Kimura was the only one who was in. After a few pleasantries, Ippo carefully broached the date topic.

“Did you have a pleasant night, Kimura-san?”

“Nothing happened, if that’s what you’re getting at.” Kimura slightly leaned on the heavy bag. “Still, I have a good feeling about Reiko-san. She’s a wonderful person.”

“That’s good.” Ippo was a little relieved that he wasn’t the only one with a dry night.

“I take it things didn’t go favorably with Kumi-san… No offense, Tagawa.”

She cricked her neck nonchalantly. “None taken. I didn’t think Grandma Ashtray would leave me hanging like that, and Kumi-san said it would make sense for Ippo and I to stick together if we were going home the same way, so… yeah, I ended up being Ippo’s third wheel.”

“I-I wasn’t even expecting to meet her last night, m-much less go to her house!” Ippo stammered. “But you helped a lot, Tagawa-san.” Ippo bashfully confessed. He relayed the night’s events from his perspective; how Jun prevented an awkward silence on the way over, how the Q&A on favorites helped him gain some better insight with Kumi’s tastes, and how masterfully Jun managed to handle the stressful situation with Ryo and diffused a lot of the tension.

“Uh… I also gave Kumi-san your number, too.” Jun idly scratched at her cheek. Ippo was caught off guard by this information, but wasn’t about to make a fuss about it.

Kimura had gone from smiling, to laughing, to being impressed with Jun, but that addendum made him howl. “Damn, Himomame-kun! You were looking out for Ippo when it should have been the other way around!”

Jun was fighting off humble embarrassment, while Ippo was fighting off humiliating embarrassment.

“I guess that was the best you could have hoped for, Ippo. It’s better than risking a beat down from scary older brother from trying to cop a feel with Kumi...”

Ippo didn’t want to be seen as a complete coward, despite his actions depicting otherwise. “I wasn’t going to touch her anyways! I wasn’t afraid, either, I was just unprepared. If I had readied myself—”

“If you had readied yourself?” A serious voice growled from behind him.

Ippo’s heart skipped a beat upon seeing the furrowed eyebrows, but saw that it was Takamura doing his best impression of Mashiba.

“Alright, alright, you look like him, you look like him.” Kimura conceded.

Jun twisted her own eyebrows into a confused state. _They look nothing alike!_

When Takamura was grilled on how his night went, he dodged the question with a loaded buffet of stoic champion bullshit. Pretty soon, Kamogawa got involved in the conversation and, although he was appreciative of his boys getting stoked for their upcoming fights, he had to discipline Takamura with the fires of Hell after providing tabloid evidence of Takamura’s late night sexual deviancy. Jun could only stand and watch as he got rightfully clobbered with a cane. It didn’t take long for Takamura to bitterly target those around him for a chance to vent with his fists.

“So I’m a liar and a pervert king. Go ahead and laugh. It’s okay. Don’t feel bad about it.”

Jun could only stare at him with a smoldering hatred after seeing the pictures. Takamura shoved his face uncomfortably close to hers. “Why aren’t you laughing? Out with it, already!” He sneered, the forehead vein bulging from his hairline to his cheekbone.

Kimura whispered under his breath. “He’s being a bastard! Come on, Ippo, think of something!”

Ippo wasn’t sure how to handle this. “E-even if you confirm that...”

Jun had her own vein providing pressure against her skull, and had no intention of coddling the asshole this time. “I’m not laughing because there is nothing funny about attempted—”

“Hey, how is Aoki-san doing?” Ippo managed to interject, putting himself physically between the two.

It took a few seconds for the gears to shift out of neutral for Takamura. Thankfully, his favorite butt monkey gained his full attention. “Aoki-kun!!”

When they called him up, it was the homely woman who had answered the phone. All but Jun had walked out of the room disgusted. _Nice!_ She thought while nodding her head, genuinely happy for Aoki. She hung up the abandoned phone receiver and exited the room.

During the week, Jun secretly fussed over the thought of contacting the Mashiba family again. She tried looking up their number, but the only phone book she could find was more than six years old. She thought about dropping by their house, but wanted an invitation first. Asking Ippo for help was out of the question. After much internal debate, she decided to craft an excuse to visit Kumi at work, hoping that she wouldn’t come off as a creeper.

It was right around lunchtime on Friday when Jun stepped up to the front doors of the hospital. She calmed herself and reviewed the plan. _Remember, DON’T PUSH TOO HARD. She’s at work, anything could cut you short. If it fails, drop it and be polite on your way out._

She fiddled with the conversation starter in her pocket as she asked the receptionist if Mashiba Kumi was in. Jun was told that she would get an answer shortly and told to sit in the waiting room.

 _I’m so glad it wasn’t Grandma Ashtray at the desk…_ she thought, relieved.

The minutes passed, and Jun felt more and more awkward with each passing second. Every time somebody walked nearby, she’d instinctively look to see who it was. Finally, a soft voice answered after gentle footfall stopped next to her.

“Tagawa-san?”

It was Jun’s first time seeing Kumi in her nurse’s outfit. She couldn’t help but admire how professional she looked.

“Ah, hello, Kumi-san! I’m sorry to bother you at work, but I didn’t know how else to address a problem that’s been nagging at me this week...”

She smiled warmly. “It’s okay. It’s not yet time for my lunch break, so I don’t mind. What was it that you wanted to talk about?”

 _Yes! I timed it right!_ Jun blinked the distraction away. “Well, you know that little carving I gave to you the other day?

“Oh, right! The little dog! I’m sorry... I know you wanted me to give it to Tomiko-san, but for some reason, it went missing and I couldn’t find it.” Kumi looked disappointed in herself.

This turn of events was a better fit for Jun’s plan. “Oh! Is that so? Well, it was irritating me that I did such a sloppy job on it, so I wanted to offer one that was more polished.” She pulled out a much more professionally carved shiba inu figurine from her pocket.

Kumi was won over by the cute carving. “Wow! That IS much better! You didn’t have to go through all that work, though...”

Jun waved off the dismissal. “I’m sorry, but my personal standards wouldn’t let it go. You said her name was ‘Tomiko-san,’ correct?”

“Yes. She’s on second shift, though. I think she’s actually dating the one guy from your gym… Aoki-san?”

Jun acted surprised. “Oh, really? I didn’t know they got together! Maybe I can hand it off to Aoki-san and he can offer it as a lovely present!”

“That sounds perfect!” Kumi giggled.

Jun tucked the carving back into her pocket. “By the way, I wanted to thank you for letting me visit your apartment to speak with your brother! However, I do wish I could have given him earlier notice for such a visit. He seemed… worried.” Jun tried to phrase his ominous temperament carefully.

Kumi could see past the attempt at tact. “Yes, he was, but I don’t think advance notice would have changed his behavior any. He hates the thought of boys coming home with me.”

“I don’t blame him, especially concerning ones wielding carving knives. … I don’t suppose either of you would want a carving, would you?”

Kumi gently shook her head, smiling. “You don’t have to do anything like that!”

Jun took the carving back out of her pocket with a flourish. “But you smile so beautifully when you see one! It may take a little more effort, but I think it would be cool to give your brother a smile, too!” She unwittingly flirted. “Maybe I can carve something over dinner?”

Kumi broke eye contact. “I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.”

Jun’s excitement fizzled. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is it a schedule conflict, or the no-boys thing?”

Kumi kicked a foot back and tapped her toe on the linoleum floor. “A little of both. My brother really doesn’t like having guests over, but it’s more that our schedules won’t allow it. I work full time, and weekends are high risk days for mandatory overtime. Sometimes I work the weekend solid, anywhere from ten to fourteen hours per day.”

Jun’s couldn’t hide her astonishment. “FOURTEEN HOURS A DAY!? How do you even deal with that?!!”

“Lots of coffee.” Kumi gave a knowing nod.

“But… but you’re a nurse! You’re on your feet all day, dealing with all sorts of sick people, stressful emergencies, and… bodily fluids…” Jun cringed on that last note.

Kumi fiddled with a strand of hair. “It’s not for the weak of heart – or stomach, but I enjoy helping the people who need my assistance.”

“Oh man...” Jun had to take a moment to realize that there are far worse jobs than the one on the fishing boat. “Is your brother a full time boxer, or does he have a day job, too?”

Kumi looked off to the side, a little sad. “Both. He has a part time job driving a truck at a shipping yard. Sometimes my brother has to take extra hours, even though he has to train for boxing on top of it.”

Jun felt a little sick at how lax her own schedule was. “Wow. You two probably come home and knock out cold.”

“Not exactly. I usually have to make dinner first.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes to the ceiling.

Jun’s impulsiveness kicked in with an unplanned idea. “Well, that’s it! I’m not going to leave until I can offer something to help.” She pulled a small notebook out from her inner coat pocket and started scrawling out a message. She tore the page out and presented it to the confused Kumi. “Here, this is a favor coupon. Any time you two have had a really bad day and are waiting for the paychecks to clear, have your brother call me up and I will come over and make you two a fresh, homemade dinner, free of charge, and you can reuse the coupon as necessary. Just make sure to give me enough advance warning to account for ingredients and travel.”

Kumi was flustered. “Oh, no, it’s okay! I— I mean, you don’t have to do this! It’s too much to ask!”

Jun reassured her. “You don’t have to redeem it if you don’t want to. You could tear it up and I would be none the wiser. Just remember, Kumi-san...” She made sure she had eye contact before continuing. “At some point, you’re going to have a day that will work your last nerve. Give yourself a break when that day comes,” Jun shrugged. “Worst case scenario, I make a terrible meal and your brother makes sure I foot the bill for takeout. If that happens, then it’s my fault and you can still take the night off.” She straightened up and clapped her hands together. “Alright, I’ve already taken up too much of your time gabbing! I hope you have a nice lunch break, and that the week will be forgiving to you!” She gave a bow before walking towards the door. Kumi stood there, stunned, before Jun waved to her. “Give my regards to Ryo-san, too!”

She waved back, a smile growing on her face. “Thank you, Tagawa-san!” She looked back down at the paper in her hands. “What a peculiar young man!” She giggled with a slight blush, making sure to tuck the slip of paper in her pocket before walking down the hallway to the employee break room.

As the weeks went by, Jun’s body was continuously improving, which had its pros and cons. The pros were that, for the most part, this was the healthiest and happiest she had ever felt in her life. Her whole body had toned up, from her legs becoming strong enough to allow her to carry more than one cooler at a time, to her arms providing more delicate control with her carving knife. She wasn’t quite yet up to three full meals a day, but her anxiety flare-ups were lessening. The cons, however, were building up incrementally. It was around the three month mark when the dam showed its first major crack.

There was a harsh December chill that had crept through the house early one morning, and Jun was having a restless sleep filled with dreams of getting crushed under rocks. She woke up with a start of severe pain in her chest. For quite a while, she had only taken off and changed her binding bandages whenever she had to shower, and she had to guard the laundry room whenever they needed washed. She was no stranger to the resulting rashes and powdered regularly, but her sleep schedule became worse as a different pain crept in a little faster night after night. Tonight, it was too much. She woke up in a cold sweat in the pitch black of the AM hours. She hissed though her teeth as she got up and made her way quickly to the bathroom. After making sure the door was secured, she ripped her pajama top off and tore the bandages off as quickly as she could. She had never been this sore before, but as she started massaging the pain out of her chest, she realized that the swelling shouldn’t fill her palms like that. She blinked as much grogginess out of her eyes as she could and stared at the clearly female Jun in the mirror.

Even with traces of emaciation still showing through her ribs and her upper body covered in rashes, she looked beautiful. She slowly pulled her hands away to take in her new curves and contours. Just to make sure, she pulled off her pants and Y-front underwear to see that her legs, albeit incredibly hairy, were now well sculpted, too. Turning around in shock, she found that her buttocks were almost as alarming as her breasts in how large, round, and firm they had gotten. Her brain was having trouble accepting the naked woman in the mirror as herself. She carefully caressed her sides, forcing herself to match the sense of touch with what her eyes were seeing. By the time she had cupped her breasts and gave them a gentle squeeze, she was rosy from her hairline to her collarbone. She audibly tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

“Who.. are you?” She whispered, and swallowed again. The entirety of her teenage years, she would have loved to have looked like this. But now, the fear and worrying thoughts crept in and tangled themselves with her hormones. _What if Ippo catches me like this? What would he do?_

Sexually charged imagery flashed in her mind. She had seen him naked before, and the thought of her body rubbing up against his made her heart thump in her chest. She tried shaking out the dirty thoughts, but only more memories of naked bodies at the gym shower took their place, and the cold shock came back of Takamura standing there next to her, but as she is now. Her stomach tightened with nausea at the thought of the pervert champion anywhere near her. She had to brace herself on the sink and breathe deeply.

_Oh god… if they all found out. Kamogawa. Hiroko. Kumi… Ryo..!_

The sound and sensation of Ryo’s flicker jab snapped in her ears. _He… he wouldn’t! Would he?_

Her shoulder shook with fear. After the painful thought faded, she visualized slender hands snaking long arms up her body. His face emerged from the shadows of her mind and leaned next to her ear, where he whispered in a deep, rumbling voice like a mountain lion’s purr.

_“I LIKE you, kid!”_

The shaking didn’t stop with the mental image of him gently nipping at her ear with a prolonged sigh, his tongue tracing its way down her neck, and a hard on pressed between her legs. She reeled back, leaning against the cold wall of the bathroom. All she could see was the hot sex scene playing in her mind’s eye.

With one hand clasped over her mouth and the other venturing south, she closed her eyes tight.

_I’d better do this fast and quiet..._

Minutes passed, and the sound of running water from the bathroom was the only thing to disturb the air. Wobbling back to bed on rubber legs, her head hit the pillow with a concerning thump. _Okay… so I have a thing for Mashiba Ryo…_ A worried sigh slipped out as she rubbed her chest, which was now wrapped more loosely. _What am I going to DO!? Say something now? Sit on this until spring? Pretend like this whole charade was no big deal?_ She continued to search the ceiling for answers. _Who am I, anymore? A guy? A girl? A delinquent? A coward? … A liar?_

She shifted anxiously under the covers. _What I am… is still kinda horny, apparently._ The mental image of his long arms surrounding her in a tender hug comforted her. _I guess I found my type: Tall, long hair, rugged-looking, and pissed off at the world. That would explain some of my previous crushes... What is it with me wanting to play with fire?_

She remembered how his eyes caught the light of the street lamp after taking his flicker, and he seemed genuinely bemused without a hint of malice. _Maybe I like playing with fire because I want to see that spark in your eyes, too._

It was still the better part of an hour before Hiroko would wake up, and Jun somehow managed to fall back asleep through the chest pain long enough for her to be completely off her game when she did have to get up to report to work. On the chance that anyone commented about her behaving differently, she would respond with the excuse of sleeping badly. A grumpy, reluctant attitude hid her hair trigger hormones bubbling under the surface. Her only saving grace at the gym was that Takamura, Aoki, and Kimura had left along with Ippo for a beach training camp at Izu. Ippo’s absence was especially both a blessing for lack of distraction and a curse for having to pick up his shift. All she wanted to do was take a nap before her shift started, and hoped that this bizarre emotional shit storm would blow over. It was at this time she regretted having thirty-some rocks in her backpack on the way home. Upon arrival, she flung the backpack to the side with a crackly thud, removed her shoes, and went over to the kitchen to splash water on her face. Umezawa had stopped in for a bathroom break, but his concern for Jun’s well being made him take pause.

“You’re home early.” He untied his rubber apron and folded it inside-out to set on the counter.

Jun didn’t want to respond. “Uhhh… are you feeling sick, Tagawa?”

“…Yeah.”

“That’s understandable, I guess. You’ve been running outside in the freezing weather, maybe you caught a cold or something.”

“…No. I just don’t feel good.”

Umezawa wandered over to Jun. “Maybe you just need something hot to drink to settle your stomach?”

“…Please leave me alone.”

“Oh come on! We can’t have you feeling sick!” Umezawa slapped a hand on her back.

She whipped around fast, a burning glare gleaming under the shadows cast by her eyebrows. She didn’t say anything.

Umezawa got the hint real quick. “Uhhh, you know what? It’s not my official break yet, so I’ll talk to you later.”

Jun barely nodded her head. Umezawa was in and out of the house in record speed. He had been around Jun long enough to know that there was a lot of pent up rage inside that kid, and he just caught a glimpse of the worst of it.

With Umezawa now gone and the house empty, she decided to swipe Ippo’s alarm clock for a quick nap in the corner of the living room.

Then the phone rang.

When Kumi had brought home the coupon a few weeks ago, she showed it to Ryo, much to his bristling suspicion. She brushed off the bristles and put the coupon on the fridge, making it absolutely clear that it was up to him to use it or throw it away. As much as he wanted to shred it into the tiniest pieces, he had a gut feeling that it could come in handy one day. Today was the day that Kumi got the last minute schedule change and contacted her brother about it while he was at work, suggesting that he pick up some food on the way home. His own work schedule went sideways, causing him to be late for workout. Checking the fridge for takeout coupons, he spotted the handwritten one. _Free of charge, huh?_ Ryo’s gut instinct told him that something like this was too good to be true… that the kid was looking for something in return. Remembering how much of a blatant flirt Jun was upon first impression, he had a strong hunch on what that angle was.

“Alright, kid. I’ll show you what happens when you stick your neck out for strangers...” He dialed up the number with malicious satisfaction.

Jun knew this wasn’t a good sign. Life had a bad habit of kicking her when she was down, and the timing for this reeked of unfairness. Still, she had to answer it in case it was a customer who lost a wallet or someone canceling a slot or any number of innocuous possibilities. She stormed over to the phone, took a deep breath, and affected a confident male voice. “Hello, Makunouchi residence!” Silence on the other end. Before she could say anything, a stern voice answered.

“TAGAWA JUN.”

 _Ah, shit…_ She thought. “Speaking…” she guardedly answered.

“It’s Mashiba.”

Jun wasn’t sure if she wanted to rocket through the roof or bury herself in a hole, but maintained the professional air. “Oh, hey, Ryo-san. What can I do for you?” Another brief silence. She could barely hear the sound of paper crinkling on the other end.

“You gave a coupon to my sister… a favor coupon, but she said that I could cash it in...”

Despite her sour attitude during the day and how unusually exhausted she felt, there was still a twinge of excitement running through her. “Yeah, did you need an emergency dinner?”

“Kumi is working a twelve hour shift. Think you could make it over here around eight?”

Jun looked at the kitchen clock. It was ten after four. “Sure, I can make it. I have some fixings for kare-raisu, but I need to go grab some fresh produce on the way. Is that alright with you?”

“Ku-huuu… You were prepared, weren’t you. Yeah… that’s fine. Don’t be late.”

He hung up before Jun could respond. She had a basic memory of where they lived, but getting there was going to be a bit of a hassle. She wasn’t fond of night running in the winter, but she wanted to spend as little money as possible and wasn’t about to spring for a cab.

 _So much for that…_ She returned the alarm clock, dumped her backpack of rocks outside, tossed it in the wash, and took inventory of her cooking supplies before changing into her work uniform.

Jun stepped carefully around the giant puddles generated from freezing rain. It wasn’t the coldest night of the year, but it was still enough that her sweat immediately cooled on her forehead the moment she stopped at the apartments. _That shower was useless._ She hefted up the loaded backpack that was sliding off her shoulders. Her shaky memory was better than expected in helping her locate the apartment, but the lack of lights made her doubt herself. The last that Jun checked the time was two blocks ago at the bank display, showing she had a five minute buffer. She buzzed the doorbell in vain. At first, she sat down on the steps, but her ass immediately jolted back up the moment the cold concrete seared through her pants. She started doing leg exercises on the steps to keep warm when a creepy shadow started wafting down the street. It gave her a start, just how fast and quietly it approached. Upon walking into the lamplight, Ryo’s visage carved contrasting shapes out of the deep shadow. One of his eyes caught the light as he looked up to see Jun. He stayed silent, crossing the street and climbing the steps to meet her at the top. Instead of a greeting, he asked a curt question while unlocking the door.

“No knives, right?”

“No knives this time. I’m relying on your kitchen to have them instead,” Jun honestly snarked.

He didn’t respond, but simply dropped his bag by the door after entering and directed her inside. After flicking on the lights, she noticed the giant mud spatter spanning from pant cuff to hairline.

“Whoa! Were you standing too close to the road or something?”

There was only a grumbling nod before he started giving terse directions. “Rice cooker is in the corner, utensils are in the drawer left of the sink. Pots and pans are down on the right.”

Jun eyed the indicated parts of the kitchen. “Do you have an apron anywhere?”

A smile creased his face, and all he could do was laugh slowly. He pointed to a long cabinet next to the entryway. He laughed more maliciously when Jun pulled out a flower print apron, the only one in there.

“Let me take a wild guess… Kumi is the one who cooks all the time.” She held it up by the strings as if it were a dirty diaper.

“Bingo.” He smirked. “I don’t do women’s work.”

The remark was like burlap against sunburned skin for her. He started laughing slowly again.

“Mashiba-san… tell me. Have you ever had the experience of snapping a rabbit’s neck, slicing its belly open, and peeling the skin away from the muscle in one solid, blood soaked piece?”

The sudden morbid shift cut Ryo’s laughter short. “No… What does that have to do with anything?”

Jun put on the apron and tied it tight. “I’ve hunted and cooked rabbit before. Made a delicious stew, that little guy.” She continued. “There’s nothing solely feminine about survival skills. Pulling the steaming entrails out of your next meal, Sewing up holes in the only set of clothes you own and washing them in a river against the rocks, weaving a fishing net out of reeds, cooking over an open fire… It all requires a masculine attitude.”

As she unpacked the ingredients, Ryo gave a grumbling sigh. “You still look silly in that thing.”

“Better than wearing a brown streak of curry sauce… no offense,” she retorted, pointing to his side.

“You do whatever, then. I’m getting cleaned up.” Ryo got up from leaning his back on the wall and left the kitchen.

In the quiet of the kitchen, Jun cleaned the rice and put it in the cooker, figuring out the controls fairly quickly. She set what she could in place and searched around for a peeler, but couldn’t find one. She tried searching for a paring knife, still no luck. There was only one chef’s knife available, and it was dull. _Sheesh, Kumi, how do you work with this crap??_

Before Jun could start prepping the vegetables, she heard the shower running from the bathroom. Her actions stalled as her mind decided to focus on things she wasn’t supposed to. Her jugular vein caused her head to imperceptibly bounce with each strong heartbeat. She held a large carrot to the cutting board, but her thumb gently stroked it as her eyes looked toward the kitchen entryway. _Is… is he showering with the door open, or is it just really loud?_ The curiosity taunted her. She swiveled her jaw from one awkward angle to another, debating on what to do. She could feel her face heat up at the thought of actually taking a peek down the hallway and finding out…

She shook the naughty cobwebs from her head and did her best to focus on food prep. Nipping off the tip of the carrot, an intrusive thought cropped up.

_I wonder how thick he is…_

She looked to the ceiling with wide-eyed embarrassed frustration, pumping her arms in time with the words hissed through gritted teeth. “JUST! PEEL! THE! DAMN! THING!”

Hiding just outside of the kitchen entrance and still fully dressed, Ryo decided to stop spying on the frustrated little cook and actually take his shower.

Jun forced her focus on the challenge of shaving the carrot with the equivalent of a metal credit card. With some finagling, she finally got progress going on peeling the vegetables and had moved to dicing them up. She was about a quarter of the way done when she heard the shower stop. “Focus on chopping, or I take a finger,” she warned herself. She did manage to focus, but there was some anxiety with it. Even during her wilder days in school, her libido was never this difficult to control. The anger at herself provided enough energy to power through. She was almost done with the vegetables when the alluring scent of sandalwood wafted into the kitchen. Simultaneously, the sound of terrycloth whipping around tipped her off at his presence.

Standing in the doorway, Ryo had thrown on a pair of sweatpants that had sunk below his hip bones and was being held up by the muscles below instead. Shirtless and with scattered beads of shower water freckling his skin, he scrubbed the towel over his wet hair. “How’s it going?”

She stared at him dumbstruck, visually drinking in the sight before her. _Hnggeehuuhhuhhhuhh…_

The instant the towel cleared his face, her instinct snapped her head back to the cutting board before he could look at her… or so she thought.

Ryo sensed something wasn’t right. All he saw was Jun quickly turning away in a fashion that only a guilty conscience would cause.

“It’s… it’s going. It’s com- it’s moving along...” She spoke to the cutting board.

He narrowed his eyes and sauntered over. He stepped right next to her, and Jun was having a weird sensation of deja vu. The difference was this time it wasn’t a pompadoured jackass making her fear for her life, and the feeling wasn’t a desire to run away. She averted her face and grabbed the last of the vegetables to cut.

Ryo had no idea how long it takes to peel and cut vegetables. The progress was almost enough to convince him that nothing bad happened, but he figured that everything would’ve been in the pot by now. He leaned over to better see how much was done. “Hnn. I guess so.” His glance caught the shakiness of Jun’s hand. This second red flag was enough for him to start grilling. “You’re shaking an awful lot. I thought you knew how to do this stuff.”

“...I do, it’s just… uh, different kitchen makes me nervous.” She sawed through the potato with jittery chops.

“…You weren’t doing anything suspicious while I wasn’t looking, were you?” His right arm leaned across the counter, a fist resting next to her elbow. He was trying to get her to make eye contact, but she kept ducking down further.

“Uhh… just gouging out the eyes on the potatoes...”

The joke wasn’t enough to sway him. He was done with the sandbagging and decided to cut to the quick. “I don’t believe you.” She stopped chopping the potato and didn’t move. He pressed on. “I think you planted that stupid little coupon of yours as a backdoor access to my sister’s room.” He tightened his fist on the counter.

Jun remained still, but spoke calmly. “I have no interest in such things.”

He picked up a strand of peeled carrot and pinched it, waving the dangling ends like broken arms. “Really. You have no interest in my sister. After you stalked her at work. Do you expect me to choke that lie down, like you expect me to choke down your shitty food?” He flicked the carrot shaving at the side of her head. “You’ve got five seconds to tell me the real reason why you wanted back here so badly, or I turn you into curry paste.”

A cold familiarity seeped into her bones the moment he started interrogating. These were the same tactics her mother used to find any excuse to taunt her, degrade her, and beat her. Any warm feelings she had for him were now chilled to ice. Her tolerance for such behavior was thin on better days. This was not a better day. She could understand the stalking concern, and the accusation of her being a liar, but insulting her cooking before even starting made her snap.

With a lightning fast motion, Jun buried the corner of the knife into the cutting board, making Ryo flinch away with surprise. Jun finally gave him the eye contact he was digging for, but he wasn’t expecting to dig all the way to Hell’s flames that burned behind them.

“YOU ARE THE ONE WHO CALLED ME HERE! YOU COULD HAVE TORN UP THAT COUPON A LONG TIME AGO! YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY I WANTED TO COME BACK!? ALRIGHT! THE REASON I WANTED TO COME BACK WAS TO TALK WITH YOU!! LISTEN TO YOUR STORY! FIND SOMEONE ELSE WHO KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE HATED FOR BEING YOURSELF, AND FORGET THE NIGHTMARE I LEFT IN SENDAI! BUT RIGHT NOW, YOU’RE REMINDING ME WHY I LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE! SO YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES, MASHIBA RYO; EITHER YOU STAY OUT OF MY WAY AND LET ME COOK, OR YOU FIGURE OUT YOUR OWN DINNER SITUATION AS I WALK OUT THE DOOR, BECAUSE EITHER WAY, I AM NOT PUTTING UP WITH THIS HORSESHIT!”

The whole time she was yelling in her lower register, Jun had slowly backed Ryo into the fridge. Normally, anyone getting up into his face like that would get a knuckle sandwich, but Jun had a point. He got solidly called out with no excuses to hide behind. When she finished and was panting with a pained angry look, all he could do was blink a few times with his huge eyebrows raised, glance over at the vegetables, then at the door, and back at Jun. He quietly sidled around her and backed through the doorway. He paused for a moment before leaving. Jun stared him down the whole way, and went back to the cutting board when he left, slamming down her palms and closing her eyes. Like a pendulum that had been pulled far back, the stress swung a heavy weight into her stomach. She cramped against the counter with a hiss, forcing herself to breathe between her mutterings.

“Why am I here…? Why did it have to be today of all days..? Uuugh, I was trying so hard to be a good person, doing good deeds, and then I go lose my nerve and take it out on him, screaming like a lunatic... I pushed too hard. I’m not wanted here… I just need to hurry and get this done… get out of here before my brains get splattered and tossed in the pot as well… I guess that’s a third choice, to cook up the body. Maybe I’ll taste good with some coriander and – AHHH, SHUT UP, TAGAWA.” She yanked the knife out of the cutting board right as she heard a throat clear behind her. She wheeled around to see Ryo, now with a shirt on and his hair combed out.

“Um… do you need any help?”

Still huffing from the pain, she shook her head. “No, I can do this. I just… I need a minute to calm down.” She began to straighten herself out with each breath. “I was hoping to keep this a secret, but my stomach cramps up every time I stress out too much. It’s why I’ve been skinny my whole life.” Jun felt guilty for being quick to fly off the handle. “...I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

“You were right, though.” He tentatively wandered into the kitchen. “What I don’t understand is why you weren’t crumpling up like a used tissue the first time you visited. You seemed pretty relaxed then.”

Jun took a few breaths before responding. “It’s … today’s been a bad day for me as well. I’d rather not talk about it.” She resumed her position at the cutting board. “Actually, I do need some help here. Are there any other knives I can use? This one is so dull, it’s pissing me off in the worst way...”

“NO KIDDING. That’s what made you snap?” He paused a moment as she locked eye contact with him, running her thumb along the blade with confidence that no blood would come of it. His eye twitched, stumbling out a response. “… Huh. I don’t know if we have any better ones. Kumi has her own system, and I don’t mess with it.”

“Don’t worry about it, then. I’m almost done with the cutting part.” She forced the knife through the last potato and started cubing up the tofu.

Ryo leaned against the wall next to her. “You and your knives...”

Jun gave a sideways nod, knowing she had an unhealthy fascination. “I know, it’s creepy, but I like creepy things. Bugs, skeletons, cheesy monster movies with gory effects…”

Ryo gave a small laugh. _That explains a few things._

Jun smiled. “Oh yeah, I actually scared the crap out of Makunouchi during my first week staying over. It was late at night, and I got up to get some water, and the next thing I know, I hear him panicking in the hallway. Turns out he peeked into the living room and thought he saw a walking corpse with no eyes, silently screaming.” Jun dramatically turned around, imitating her slow, toothy yawn from that night.

Ryo grinned maliciously. “I wish I could have seen that.”

“I used to pull pranks a lot, so he’s a fun one to mess with.” Jun collected the food scraps and looked around. “Where’s the trash can?”

“Next to the fridge.” He pointed his finger at the other side of it. On her way back, she searched around and found a large pot. Ryo eyed her carefully. “Pranks, huh? Did you ever have one backfire?”

Jun set the pot down, her mood turning more serious. “More than a few times, really. Usually I would get smacked around for it, but sometimes… I really step in it.”

“Which one got you into the most trouble?”

“Well, since I mentioned ‘the nightmare in Sendai,’ I guess it would be the one I did right before running away from home.” Jun started cramping up again, but his scent helped relax her into talking about it. “After my parents divorced, my mom was stuck raising me by herself and became an alcoholic early on. It was always a back-and-forth of me pulling stupid shit and her beating the crap out of me.” Jun proceeded to clean and cut up the fresh herbs. “In the end, I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get out of there, so I worked hard to make an escape plan for one last giant middle finger before dropping out. I studied outdoor survival skills, saved up money, and secretly stashed away as many discarded liquor bottles as I could. The plan was to litter the entire house with water-filled bottles with a note telling her to find out which one was the real stuff.” Ryo smirked at the vengeful sentiment. Jun heaved a sigh. “Then I screwed up a month early. There was a pushy mortgage banker named Tashida-san that kept threatening to take our house for years. One day, he stopped over and told me how he could be my new father, and he knew how to set me straight for good. This pissed me off, so I keyed a new advertisement on the side of his big, black, shiny car for ‘child deflowering services,’ complete with a giant dick and his phone number.”

Ryo couldn’t help but sneer. “Ouch.”

Jun finished the herbs, measured out water, and dumped all the ingredients into the pot. “Mom was mad, but she didn’t say anything. I thought I was in the clear, but one night I stayed out too late and she was waiting for me.”

Jun put the pot on the stove and set the burner to start simmering. “She had been drinking heavily, and I knew I was going to get another beating, but something was different this time. She started talking about how she had found a use for such a useless child, that I was finally going to do something that would save the family. She cornered me, and as I tried to escape, she broke a bottle of whiskey across my head,” Jun touched the scar on her temple. “I was dazed and tried to escape again, but she lunged at me with the broken glass. It barely missed my face and I tried going past her. She was a big woman, and tackled me, dragging me to my bedroom.” Jun started to tremble. “She had prepared in advance. There were ropes on my bedposts, and she lashed down my arms and legs, saying that Tashida-san was coming over to collect payment for the vandalism. She ignored my protests, and shut the door behind her. It didn’t take me long to realize what was happening. I panicked and struggled so hard that the ropes cut into my wrists.”

Jun traced her fingers over the scars. “Luckily, the blood helped my hands slip free. From that point on, I HATED her with everything I had. After untying my legs and bandaging my wrists with socks, I carefully dug out my camping stash and escaped out the window. I made a break for it right as his car pulled up, all buffed and shiny like new. I ran for the train station, and hitched a ride to the mountains, where I happily backpacked around for the next year.”

As she finished her story, the sauce was ready for a stir. Ryo watched her with a set jaw. He leaned over to take a close look at the wrist stirring the pot. She rested the wooden spoon and showed him both at once.

“Damn. You couldn’t call the police?”

“Not with my record...” She continued to stir.

Ryo rubbed the back of his neck, fully understanding the aversion to officers. “Shit … I guess it makes me thankful that my parents were good to us before … before they died.”

Jun watched the pot as it gently started to bubble. “I was wondering what had happened, but didn’t want to ask. Kumi sounded so sad when she said this was her favorite food, that your mom would make on Saturdays. I was hoping that maybe I could bring back a good memory, but instead I made things worse.”

Ryo had a thousand yard stare. He was wondering why this meal felt staged. He didn’t know that Kumi mentioned it, and without that knowledge it felt like Jun had reopened the old wound.

Right at that moment, Jun swiped a finger across the spoon and tasted the sauce. She wrinkled her nose and started coughing lightly, pulling Ryo out of his torpor.

“Ugh! It tastes like old shoe!” She laughed. “I think I can fix it, though.”

He tasted some for himself, and it made his eye twitch. Jun added a little more salt, pepper, ginger, and garlic. “A little better. Do you have any spices I could use?” Jun asked.

Ryo shrugged and gestured to one of the cabinets. She was able to find an old bottle of curry powder, onion powder, and chicken bouillon. She sprinkled in the first two and dropped a bouillon cube in, tasting again. “May I check your fridge?”

“Sure.” Ryo moved out of the way to let her peek inside. She could see why Ryo was willing to risk calling in help for making dinner. There was a near empty jar of jam, various condiments, a pitcher of water, an egg carton with one egg left, a few tomatoes next to some apples, and mystery containers she wasn’t about to touch. She grabbed some soy sauce and the jam jar.

Ryo wasn’t too sure about her selection. “Eww.”

Jun poured some soy sauce over the wooden spoon and stirred it into the pot. She tasted it once more with a nod. “Almost there, but it’s too salty now. Time to experiment a bit...”

She mixed a dab of the jam with a spoonful of curry and gave it a try. “Hey, it works! What do you think?” She held the spoon over and let him taste it.

“Tastes like designer shoe now, I guess.”

Jun tried not to giggle. “You didn’t twitch, so that’s good enough for me.” She proceeded to scrape up a heaping glob from the jar and dumped it in the pot. After a final taste, she reduced the heat and left it to stew the vegetables. “Whew! Made it in time! The rice should offset the rest of the saltiness.” She popped open the lid to the cooker and gave it a stir. It was a little dry on the bottom, so she added some water and closed it back up. Jun started zipping around, putting away bottles and cleaning up the mess. She started washing the cutting board when Ryo felt the need to ask.

“Uh… are you staying to eat?”

Jun had to pause for a second. “I… didn’t think that would be an option? I was planning to head out before Kumi-san came back. It is late, and I need to hurry up before it gets too cold outside.”

Ryo could respect that response. He walked up next to her at the sink. “Listen … There are two oaths that I live by: one, that I wouldn’t rely on anybody except myself, and two, that anybody who hurt Kumi would pay dearly. So… count this favor as one she called in, okay?”

Jun turned to him with snark in her voice. “You don’t rely on anyone, but Kumi does the cooking?”

Ryo’s face turned sour, but Jun smiled. “It’s okay, I get it. You don’t want to feel like anyone else gets the credit for your hard work by saying, ‘If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have a single yen to your name!’ or something like that. There’s nothing wrong with making friends or asking someone to help with something you’re not good at. Hell, society wouldn’t exist if we all only relied upon ourselves. I had to find out the hard way that true self-sufficiency is fragile way to live.”

Ryo couldn’t argue with that logic. “Well… I would like to live as self-sufficiently as I can.”

Jun finished off the dishes and turned off the water. “I get that, too!”

She dried her hands and headed for the doorway. “Alright, time to head out.” She stopped, pulling off the apron. “Sorry about the meltdown. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t punch me, since it took me six seconds to respond.”

“Hmph. I would have belted you one, but seeing this little matchstick in a flowery apron throw a fit was just too funny.”

Jun gave him a mischievous look. “If you took a swing at me, I would have chucked that dull-ass knife at you only to have it bounce off your head.”

Ryo returned with a sneer. “Then we WOULD have had Tagawa curry for dinner.”

Jun tried to sneer, but ended up laughing. “Instead of designer shoe kare-raisu.”

He laughed a bit, too.

Jun went to the living room just in time for the door to open and Kumi look down confusedly at the second pair of shoes. With tired eyes, she looked up, startled. “Oh! Hello, Tagawa-san!”

“Good evening, Kumi-san!” Jun bowed. “Ryo-san said you were working long hours, so I filled the favor to make dinner.”

She put her coat away, looking at her with sly suspicion. “Tagawa-san, that wasn’t necessary!”

Jun piped up. “No, I saw your fridge. The situation was dire.”

She walked up to the two of them. “He didn’t give you a hard time, did he?”

“Only a little.” She measured with her finger and thumb. “We… cleared the air afterward.”

“I know it’s late, but did you want to stay and eat? I mean, if you haven’t had dinner...” Kumi held a concerned fist to her mouth.

“Sorry, but I need to hurry on—” Jun’s stomach audibly growled, angry over her third attempt to skip dinner. Her lopsided smile caused her cheek to pinch into her eyelid as Kumi gave her a concerned look. “I, uh… w-well, if it’s okay with you two, I could stay long enough for a small portion.”

They both gave Ryo an inquiring glance. Jun hinted a shrug as he contemplated her backtracking.

His stern features betrayed the lax message of his words. “… Sure. You made it, so why not.”

The three of them sat down for dinner, and Jun felt incredibly happy to be included without too much judgment. Her stay was relatively short. Kumi was unsettled by just how small of a portion Jun was having, requiring an explanation of her trip back and her still lingering digestive issues. They talked for a bit about work stories, cooking mishaps, Jun’s ongoing search for her father and brother, happier stories about the Mashiba parents, and Jun’s stories of making onigiri for herself after school when her mom was passed out drunk. The way that Jun told the positive sides of her horrible situations with such a relaxed demeanor made Kumi uncomfortable. It was a realization that Jun’s desire to cook was not only a key survival skill physically, it was also a necessary coping mechanism emotionally.

Jun finished up, washed her dishes quickly and politely let herself out. The Mashiba siblings ate briefly in silence until Kumi decided to ask about the elephant in the room.

“That was very kind of you to invite Tagawa-san over for dinner, Onii-chan. You don’t usually do something like that.”

Ryo didn’t bother looking up from his apple. “You’ve been pulling overtime a lot lately, and I didn’t feel like takeout. Seemed like an interesting gamble.”

She picked at a hunk of tofu. “It sounds like you two got along pretty well.”

Ryo was not about to get baited into eye contact. “We had some issues at the beginning, but he made his intentions clear, and I left him to work. That kid has an obsession with sharp knives, though. It bugs me.”

Thinking about how much that dull knife needed to get replaced anyway, she shrugged. “At least the kare-raisu turned out good. It’s nothing like Mom’s, but… I don’t think anyone will ever make it the way she did.”

Ryo stopped for a moment, letting the ache in his chest subside. “No.”

Kumi, not wanting to ruin dinner with sad thoughts, smiled while imagining Jun and Ryo working together in the kitchen. “Still, it’s nice to make new memories… and new friends.”

He nipped the last bits from the core. “Provided you don’t get indigestion.”

She bopped his leg lightly as he went to put her empty dishes in the sink. A small smile crept across his face in the privacy of the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • “Don’t push it, Tagawa!” (Does exactly that…)  
>  • Considering that this was written in 2019, but edited in 2020, the nurse appreciation aspect hits home a lot harder now.  
>  • The phone call reaction and Ryo’s sensual voice is a nod to an episode of the britcom Black Books, where Fran talks about how this guy “confuses” her, because, “he’s a total arsehole, but he’s got this VOICE, and it just DOES things to me!”  
>  • This chapter went through so many edits for the kitchen scene. I wanted to get the point across for why Jun has such terrible mommy issues. It’s not fully elaborated, but her mom was a narcissist, too. Imagine Miss Trunchbull from Matilda, but as a halfway attractive but manipulative Asian woman.  
>  • As for Ryo, let’s be honest; canon Ryo probably would have torn up the coupon, and if he did call it in, he would have put the clues together before Jun has her outburst. But, I wouldn’t have my story, so let’s just say he was tired that night.


	9. PERSONAL DISCOVERY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING! Oh boy, it's that time of the month.  
> Also, Takamura's apartment. Need I say more?  
> \--------

Upon returning back to the house, a light was kept on for Jun. She prepared for bedtime and slept a deep sleep. Strange fragments of dreams flitted through her subconscious. A mixture of familiar scenery, old acquaintances and new friends, memories twisted into fictional scenarios. The last thing she dreamed before waking up was that she was flying over the mountains, lush with flora and fauna. As she floated down into a valley carpeted with azaleas, there were two people having a picnic on a beautiful day. The person she could make out clearly was Kumi, wearing a lovely dress, almost as if she could be on the cover of an Alice In Wonderland book. As Jun approached her and the sprawling blanket of food, Kumi looked at her with such warmth, and spoke with a sweet voice. “Welcome home, Junko.”

Jun woke with a start, sitting up in bed. Gravity pulled the tears from her eyes. She wiped them away in a confused daze, slowly realizing what had just happened. Another slow realization was the increased pelvic cramping. Jun got up, and immediately felt that something wasn’t quite right. She checked the time before going to the bathroom. It was about twenty minutes before Hiroko’s alarm. An intense thirst forced Jun to grab a tall glass of water before checking into the bathroom. As she sat on the toilet to take a piss, a large, dark reddish-brown streak in her underwear heralded the arrival of one of the most irritating aspects of being a woman, one that decided to come back from starvation vacation. Jun checked her pants, and it had soaked through them, too. She started to panic. With alarming speed, she cleaned herself up and checked her bed. A small stain attracted her focus like a magnet. She dumped the offending items in the wash before taking a shower herself. Hiroko’s alarm went off shortly after she turned off the water, and hurried to get dressed. Jun calmed herself down before smoothly exiting the bathroom, combed, clean, padded with toilet tissue, and hopefully smelling nice. The fact that Jun was ready to start the day at four in the morning pleasantly surprised the bedraggled Hiroko.

“Wow, look at you!” She exclaimed, filling the kettle.

“Eheh! Well, since yesterday was lousy, I guess last night’s sleep made up for it, and now I feel refreshed!” Jun did her best to exude a rise-and-shine attitude.

“Apparently! It sounds like you’re doing the laundry, too.”

Jun’s eyes darted down the hallway. “Y-yes, uh, since I got back so late last night, I ended up sweating in my sleep. … I drooled a bit too, so I decided to get it washed up so it would be ready by tonight.”

Hiroko picked up on the nervous cue. She wasn’t born yesterday, and as a mother of a son, she had seen this behavior before. As much as she wanted to be discreet, she still wanted to make sure of a certain detail. “… Did you pre-treat it?”

Jun’s eyes darted again and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. “… The drool on the pillowcase, yes.” Jun didn’t think to put the pillowcase in the wash, and she was screaming internally.

“Hmm. Could you do me a favor? If you just started it, could you take the little blue measuring cup in the laundry room and use it to add bleach to the wash water? I usually do that with the bedding.” She informed her with a knowing smile.

Jun had a tightly anxious grin. “Ah! Uh, good idea! Thanks!” She did as she was told and came back to wash her hands.

The kettle whistled and Hiroko poured herself a cup of instant coffee. “Thank you, Tagawa-kun. I appreciate that you’ve been helping out more while Ippo is away.”

“No problem, Boss! Is there anything else you would like done right now… some dusting, or...” Jun waved her hands in slow circles, not sure what to do with her anxious self now.

Hiroko chuckled. “If only you could pilot the boat, I would let you take care of the morning crew for me!” An intense yawn skewed the end of her sentence.

Jun smiled. “Sorry Captain, but it would take a few years before I could match even a fraction of your expertise.”

Hiroko giggled while taking a sip. “You’re laying the charm on so thick, I could swear you were gunning for a raise.”

Jun blushed a little, picking at her fingernails. “Ahah! No, no, that’s not the case, I’m good where I’m at.”

“You’ve been very good about not dipping into your savings. There’s a tidy amount stashed away now.” She took another sip, looking over the edge of the mug with raised eyebrows.

“I don’t want to even look at it unless there’s a big emergency. I just want to be pleasantly surprised when the rainy day comes.” Jun walked over to pour herself a cup of tea with the still steaming kettle.

“I was under the impression you were saving for something like a car, or perhaps a down payment on an apartment.” Hiroko swirled her mug.

“Probably the latter. I’m not used to making long term plans, so I’ll figure it out when the time comes.” Jun picked at the steeping tea leaves with her spoon. “Um, Hiroko-san … How would you handle it if Ippo ever moved out?”

She wasn’t expecting that kind of question, and mulled it over with serious thought. “Probably the same way a lot of mothers would, with love and lots of tears. I would understand, though. He’s an adult now. However, this business means a lot to him, and I don’t think he would have the heart to leave.”

“That, and he wouldn’t want you to spend your days alone, either...” Jun mentioned solemnly.

Hiroko tried to focus more on her coffee than the lump that was growing in her throat. She took a little extra time to think about her words. “… He’s a wonderful son, and a hard worker, and I know he loves me dearly. Still, I try my best to let him live his life and have a chance to chase after his dreams.”

“… Is it possible he could be stopping you from chasing yours?” Jun said with all seriousness.

At first, she felt like she was being attacked, but gave it an objective glance. “No..! I enjoy what I do here. The fishing boat business is under my name, and it’s my duty to take care of things. But… I see what you’re getting at.” She took a long, thoughtful sip of coffee. “It’s… jarring to ask myself if what I want matches what I have and what I’ve worked so hard for. I don’t want to think about selfish reasons possibly upending my livelihood. What matters is, I’m happy with this. I really am.”

Jun fixed up her tea and took a drink. “Maybe I framed that question badly. What I want to ask you is, what if you wanted to take a vacation? Go traveling somewhere? Would you be able to?”

Hiroko felt a little silly for taking things so seriously now. “Oh! That’s what you meant! I’m sorry! In that case, it would be nice to be able to take some time off, but I feel like I would spend my whole vacation worrying about the business.”

“So, a weekend vacation, then?” Jun tried to hide her smile behind her mug.

Hiroko set down her mug with an audible clack. She saw the breadcrumb trail, and called Jun out. “You are NOT spending your savings on me!” Despite being serious, she couldn’t help ending on laughter. “As a matter of fact, I have a retirement savings fund, and I’ll go use that when the time comes.”

“But that’s for retirement, not for a vacation!” Jun chuckled at her own persistence.

Hiroko polished off her coffee and set the mug in the sink. “Alright, that’s enough out of you! If you want, you can start making breakfast while I’m getting cleaned up, and when you’ve had yours, you can get started with the cooler prep.”

Jun set down her mug and whipped her hand up for a salute. “Aye aye, CAPTAIN!”

Hiroko laughed as she left the kitchen duties to Jun.

She worked quickly to get the rice going and set out the fixings for breakfast. She kept a keen ear out for the moment she heard the water turn on in the bathroom. When she did, she was almost out the door like a shot when she remembered to shove the pillowcase into the washer. At first, she ran as hard as she could, but had to adjust her gait to prevent her emergency toilet paper pad from shredding about. She bought what she felt she needed from the nearest drug store and changed out in the bathroom. She hid as many pads and tampons as she could within the smaller pockets of her backpack and left the rest on the women’s restroom sink with a courtesy note. She walked as calmly as she could out of the drug store and pelted back to the house once she was out. She snuck back in without notice and wiped down as much sweat as possible. With the speed of a hibachi chef, she started cooking up some miso soup and fish filet as well as preparing some toasted nori for the side. In a way, this all helped distract her from the cramping.

The morning work routine went without a hitch, and she visited the bathroom once more before heading off to the gym.

There was quite a bit more gusto into her actions compared to the previous day. The heavy bag was making nice sounds, the weights felt right lifting them, even squats were going along fairly smoothly, which in all fairness, was the riskiest exercise to do in her current state. After three circuits plus extra, she felt satisfied with the results. All that was left was her extra long road work, which she had been using as an excuse to explore different parts of the city before going home. She had also been doing some climbing wherever she could find a good place to do so, but more often than not she would use the playground not far from the gym. _Man… the timing! It couldn’t have been better! Sneaking out to see Ryo, the chuckle heads are gone for the week, so no chance for the rumor mill to turn yet, and this stupid period should die down by the time they come back! It’s almost hellishly perfect!_

She couldn’t help but dance around a bit after leaving the gym to head down to the shopping district to do her roadwork. She let out a mooning sigh, rather glad that the previous night ended on a good note. The nice little mental snapshot of Ryo out of the shower didn’t hurt either, and was a salacious addition to her spank bank.

“Aaagh, I still have energy to burn!” She ran in place to shake off the lust and started down the road. The bustling shops and pop-up vendors reminded her of when she would skip class to shoplift and play arcade games until dark. She instinctively rubbed at her head, remembering the lumps she got when she got caught a few times and feminine charm wouldn’t work. Even though her allowance wasn’t much per week, it still managed to curb her old thieving tendencies pretty well.

She did a few laps around the buildings, window shopping as she went. There was one indulgence she hadn’t partaken in for quite a while, and she couldn’t resist the opportunity. She had to go into the music store and listen to the samples. The CDs were new and expensive, but cassettes were still thriving. After finding some old songs she had forgotten about and discovering a whole new genre in the international section, her fingers started to itch again. _No, no… I want a fresh start. I need to earn some extra money if I want stuff like this._ A doorbell rang in her head. _Huh… Aoki is out of town, too. Maybe his boss will let me swing part of a shift. It’s going to be a long week, but maybe I can handle it now. I’ll clear it with Hiroko, first._

Upon leaving the music shop, a newsstand with all the recent shonen anthologies were on display. She recognized one of the names Umezawa mentioned, and how he hoped to work for them one day. A tinge of guilt colored her mind, remembering how snippy she was with him. He had ended up doing the lion’s share of assistance, and she had thanked him with daggers.

She did notice one last thing on the newsstand; Monthly Boxing Fan. It was an old issue, so the vendor didn’t care too much that she flipped through the pages. In the back was a schedule for upcoming matches. She scanned it for familiar names, and saw that all of the Kamogawa boys were listed within the next month and some TBA matches as well. Mashiba’s name was in the listings too, and she completely forgot that he had mentioned it during the first visit.

“Crap, there’s no way I can afford a ticket in time, not without taking a chunk out of savings.” The thought of going to the scalpers was offensive enough that she scrunched her nose. “Maybe I can watch it on TV...” She muttered, putting the magazine back on the rack.

As projected, the week was an intense one. Hiding a period was way more difficult when you couldn’t easily go to the bathroom in public, especially when working two jobs. Chuuka Soba was more than willing to let her work as a temp for under the table compensation for the week, and not having Takamura lurking about let her be more open about her training at the gym. An unexpected consequence of this was that she finally got called up to do sparring. One of the bantamweight gym members had to call in sick, so someone suggested to the guy’s usual sparring partner to tap Jun’s shoulder. He was an unassuming guy with a buzz cut and a friendly demeanor. At first, she wanted to make an excuse, but with the period now waning, she decided it was now or never to give it a go. At first, she got hit a couple of times in the face, but the protective gear took the brunt of it. Fear gave way to instinct and before she knew it she had landed enough hits in rapid succession to down the guy. He decided to take things seriously after getting up and tried going for body blows. Jun was having none of it. She dodged and countered the hit with a stinging straight, powered by her toned legs. The guy went down again, this time temporarily losing consciousness and slightly bloodied. Murmurings started nearby, but Jun paid them no mind. The sheer satisfaction of achieving one of her goals so unexpectedly made her face twist with sadistic pleasure. One of the super bantamweight guys stepped in this time, a brusque fellow with an angry face and a deep furrow dividing his forehead down the middle. He was more of a challenge, and gave her a solid body blow that made her stumble. Remembering the sheer power of Ryo’s flicker, the brusque man’s hit was less intense, but she still bobbed and weaved to avoid his punches. He grazed her a few times, but he got frustrated by her switching between infighting and outfighting that he lost his temper and made a wild swing. She took the opportunity to do a one-two combination followed by a duck and another one-two combination ending with an uppercut. He tried to keep fighting, but he stumbled and hit the mat, unable to move his legs. The murmurings turned into whoops and hollers, excited by the rookie’s talent. Jun’s luck ran out though, as the brusque man had more experience in sparring, and collected his focus to take her seriously. He landed a surprise body blow that knocked Jun to the mat. She wasn’t sure if she should call it off at that point or keep going, but when the guy started grandstanding, she knew she had to give it one last shot. He tried body blows again, but she blocked them and reciprocated them with a right hook. She pulled back fast enough to dissipate the opening, swayed from the second hit, and launched with another straight. When he didn’t go down immediately, that’s when she tried for two body blows and an uppercut. The first two weren’t enough, and he dodged the uppercut. The resulting body blow knocked the wind out of her and caused her to land on her knees. She called it quits at that point, and the brusque man helped her up and congratulated the solid attempt. Taking hits from boxing gloves was a different experience than from a bottle or bare fists, and it felt satisfying for Jun.

Still struggling with her legs, she turned around to see Kamogawa glaring at her. Jun felt no need to apologize for what she did and the pride it gave her. She forced in a deep breath, stood up straight, and glared back at him while removing the headgear. Popping out the mouth guard, she thumbed her nose with her glove.

“Went a lot better than I expected, Coach.”

He waited until she had stepped out of the ring to say anything. “I was wondering what all the ruckus was about. Looks like a weed has taken root overnight.”

“It won’t happen again, Coach. Not for a while, anyway.” She pulled the other glove off while walking past him. He caught her arm with the hook of his cane.

“Like HELL it won’t! C’mere!”

He tested the muscle on her legs through her sweat pants, making her eye twitch uncontrollably. He went to squeeze her bicep and deltoid, but she pulled away when he grasped her shoulder. “I’m NOT ready yet. Give me until the start of April.”

He smiled wryly at the fire in Jun’s eyes. “Hou, so you’ve set a date for your debut… You’ve got guts, kid.”

“It’s an all-or-nothing decision, but it has to wait. There are still some things I have to figure out. Personal things.”

“I hope you get it all sorted out, then. I’ll be waiting.” Kamogawa whirled the hook of his cane back around into his hand.

“Don’t be too confident, Kamogawa-san. Your star champion is one of the reasons I’m still weighing my options. Call me paranoid, but I’m not looking forward to whatever celebratory hazing Takamura has in store for me,” She half joked.

He didn’t find it funny. “You would let someone like him get in the way of going professional?”

She gave him an intense glare with a bitter grin. “I’m not going to be of any use in the ring if he decides to split me in half like a wishbone –” Jun had to stop herself, realizing that her valid, albeit feminine fear came across as a callous insult. Kamogawa initially felt like this was an exaggerated response, but given the weight discrepancy, their similar temperaments, and lack of past experience with Takamura, he could forgive Jun for being unreasonably wary.

“You do know there are far worse individuals at the other gyms, don’t you?”

Jun had a hard time believing that other gyms had even bigger and more perverted champions with shorter tempers. “How much worse could you get?”

“People who cheat to win. Monsters who don’t give a second thought about making deals with yakuza. Degenerates who pay— or make good on deadly threats— to silence their enemies outside of the ring. I don’t deny that Takamura is the most troublesome one here, but he isn’t a murderer waiting to happen as you think he is. If you don’t get a thicker skin to his provocations, then you’re not going to hack it at any gym, end of discussion.”

Jun didn’t want to believe him, but decided to trust his experience. She took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. “...Alright, I’ll try. But it’s still going to take some time for me to handle other matters.”

Kamogawa nodded. “You’ve already improved considerably since you first joined. I expect you to keep that ball rolling, regardless of your decision, brat.”

Jun could respect that response. “I’ll find a way. I usually do.” Kamogawa was pleased to hear it. Jun continued. “I’m going to do my roadwork and head home.”

“Get yourself bandaged up first, brat!!” Kamogawa pointed his cane at her face. She was confused, but hadn’t noticed the damage until a half dried scab stuck to her finger after brushing her hand across her cheek.

She started towards the first aid station when Kamogawa stopped her once more. “One more thing, brat. It’s only been a few months, and you’ve been doing half of the work routine of my professionals. Care to tell me how in the world you built up those legs?”

Jun stifled an impish smile. “Wait right here.”

She went to the locker room and came back with her bulging backpack. “For roadwork, circling various parts of the city. I’m hoping to make it to the Rainbow Bridge and back sometime in the future.” When she handed it to the coach, he had to catch himself as the weight forced his arm down. “I’ve been adding a single rock in the bag every day for over a month now.”

She took the bag back and set it down next to the first aid station with a muffled clatter. Kamogawa was impressed with the kid’s ingenuity.

She checked out and made her way around a section of Tokyo, this time circling an area known for fine dining. She found a rock outside of a fancy restaurant with giant dragon statues at the entrance and put it in her bag. Arriving back home, Jun got washed up and set to work helping the evening boat crew before heading out to Chuuka Soba for the next four hours. At the end of the day, the boss handed her a wad of bills.

“Here’s your paycheck. Thanks for filling in.”

“My pleasure!” Jun nearly flounced out of the kitchen after putting away the hat and apron. Her boss grumbled a groan of disenchantment.

She counted out the bills in the back room. It was obvious the boss took some money out for “taxes,” but she wasn’t going to make a fuss. It was still a good multiplier on her weekly allowance. “I’m keeping YOU on the down-low.” She made a kissing motion before tucking the cash in her waist wallet. Running back home, her legs were spent and it was after midnight. After cleaning up and changing into pajamas, she knocked out cold hitting the pillow.

The next morning, Jun was startled to see daylight. She panicked, hurrying past the kitchen counter when a note blew to the floor. She stopped and read it:

Tagawa-san,

I didn’t have the heart to wake you after seeing your face bandaged

up like that. Umezawa-kun was right, you are catching up with Ippo!

You’ve been working hard this week, so take the morning off to rest.

Ippo should be back tonight too, in case you need more time.

-Hiroko

Jun checked the clock. It was 10:15 AM. She hurried to get her change of clothes and fresh towels in the bathroom. Once again checking the door, she examined her face. There was some damage, but not anywhere near as bad as she’s seen Ippo’s face become. She checked under her shirt and lifted the padding. There was some bruising, mainly over the last body blow. _I’m so glad they didn’t punch me in the chest._ Her arms were bruised as well from blocking. She sighed heavily. _So much for avoiding the rumor mill…_ Smugness started to creep into her face, looking at the damage, or lack thereof. _I’ve had worse. Oh, they’re going to be so salty the day they find out a woman knocked them down in the ring!_ Jun may have dreaded the day of her reveal, but for now she languished in her own personal victories with a little dance, tongue sticking out, and middle fingers up before taking her shower.

She wrapped up and put away her bedding right as Umezawa knocked on the door. When she opened it for him, Ippo was standing next to him. Jun was glad to see him, and Ippo was shocked to see bandages on Jun’s face.

“Heeey! How was camp?” Jun slid the door wide open to let them in.

“It went well! … What happened to you? Did you finally spar in the ring!?” Ippo seemed way too excited for something that Jun figured would be trivial for boxers.

“Heh! Yeah, I did...” Jun rubbed at her arm bruises.

“Uwaaaah! The first time I had to spar, I was so nervous! How did it go for you?”

She recalled as best as she could what happened. “… and then I got my second down and called it quits.”

Ippo’s eyes glistened with amazement. “You had TWO spars back-to-back?! And WON the first one!!?”

“Yeeeeah… Kamogawa had a talk with me after that.”

Ippo had a guarded look of concern. “Don’t tell me he chewed you out for it...”

Jun had trouble looking him in the eye. “Ehh, nooo… In fact, I set a date for my decision...”

Ippo was ecstatic. “You’re going pro?!! That’s amazing! Congratulations!!”

“Now there’s going to be two boxers at the Makunouchi household!” Umezawa added.

Jun tried her best to fake being as thrilled as they were. She didn’t outright say she was going pro, just that she was making her decision, but let it slide anyway.

At the gym, the members were abuzz with gossip. Aoki, Kimura, and Takamura were prying into the reasons why she wasn’t joining sooner, with Takamura making jokes about how another upstart was going to surpass Aoki and Kimura. Despite her claim to go for bantamweight, there was pressure to test her skills against the professionals.

“The closest one to your weight class is Ippo...” Aoki pointed out.

Jun cringed. “I don’t want to lose my job and lodgings from fighting my boss.”

“You sure it’s not fear that he’ll crush you into matcha powder, Himomame-kun?” Takamura snarked.

She raised an eyebrow, looking over to the panicking featherweight.

“More like bounce off the ropes like a tennis ball.” She waved her left hand violently back and forth, giving him a reminder of when she caught Mashiba’s flicker.

“I’m next up. I can go easy on you, though,” Kimura teased. Jun wondered when she would ever get another opportunity like this, to spar with a pro. Feeling like she used up her good excuse mulligan on Ippo, she accepted the challenge.

Down in the basement, they took advantage of Kamogawa’s leave for a meeting to have a private sparring session. Jun was decked out in protective gear while Kimura went without. The bell rang, and he casually circled her. She took a tight peekaboo stance, and startled him when she closed the distance fast. At first, he gave moderate consideration to the effort of his punches, but none of them landed. She bobbed and weaved with an unusual timing. However, none of her hits landed either, save for one body blow. Kimura didn’t think too much about it, feeling that the punch was weak, but the pain was a delayed response. The next one hit his ribs, which stung sharply. He finally realized that he shouldn’t underestimate the small, angry wasp buzzing around in front of him. He had no choice but to buy himself some time to think by blocking her hits. Switching to more serious punches, he finally landed a combination that caused her to back off, letting him breathe for a second. Knowing that the single round would be over soon, Jun decided to try something a little different. From a distance, she briefly switched to hitman stance and threw out a flicker, mostly powered by a lunge from her back leg. A jolt of a sinking, familiar fear shot through Kimura as he dodged it, offering a brief window for Jun to close the gap with an uppercut right under the crook of his ribs. He backed away gasping right as the bell rung. Sweat was catching on his forehead, some of it cold. Jun leered at him with shadowed eyes, compounding the sense of uncanny dread.

“Whoa! I didn’t know you could move like that, Tagawa!” Aoki cheered.

“Oi, you need a flyswatter there, Kimura?” Takamura was thoroughly bemused that someone else felt the frustration of trying to catch the little squirt.

“You’ve gotten so much better, Tagawa-san!” Ippo was amazed.

With the compliments from the peanut gallery, Jun’s expression perked back to an affable grin.

“I’m a bit surprised, myself!” She turned to Kimura, beaming. “Thanks for taking it easy on me! I don’t think I would be standing, otherwise!”

He shook off the dreadful feelings and did his best to act casual, despite the need to cough. “No problem, kid.” He bopped her on the shoulder with more force than planned, making her stumble. Even though it wasn’t meant as a serious punch, there was still some smug satisfaction in getting the last one in.

Ippo’s mind wandered as he stared down at his own hand. He wondered what it would be like to spar with Tagawa-san, if it would be anything like fighting Geromichi, or if it would be like his match with Saeki, the speed king. He turned to Aoki to comment. “Tagawa-san really knows how to—”

Aoki had already leapt into the ring, gloves on. Jun was arguing with him.

“Come on, I want to try now!” Aoki was practically bouncing with excitement.

“NO! It was difficult enough keeping my feet with him! You’re five classes higher than me!” Jun puffed.

“We’re not leaving until someone gets a down...” Kimura bitterly teased.

“Since when did we agree on that!?” She huffed.

“You can take that candy ass, Himomame-kun!” Takamura roared with laughter.

“Give it a lick, then, idiot!” Aoki angrily swatted his rear in a taunt.

Jun was getting worried, but her current success decided to goad her on as well.

“Ugh, fine! Send me to the mat if it’ll make you happy.” She popped the mouth guard back in.

The bell rang, and Aoki did his own little dance around the ring. Jun kept her eyes on him.

 _Shit, this is going to hurt like hell. Just get it over with, already._ She tightened her guard and weaved in close. He dodged and blocked her punches smoothly. When she went in for a right straight, he disappeared. Instinct kicked in, making her pull back fast. Aoki launched into his frog punch, barely missing Jun. Reflexively, she went to counter with a left hook, but was expecting to hit above the belt. She was a split second too late in pulling her punch right to his nutsack. He crumpled to the floor in an instant KO.

The rest of the group couldn’t believe what they just saw.

Jun was frozen in panic, only thinking about how much Kamogawa was going to ream her if he found out, and how much worse Aoki’s humiliation would be down the road. Quick like a bunny, she discarded the protective gear and shot back upstairs, leaving Ippo and Kimura to ice their fallen comrade, while Takamura dangled from the neutral corner laughing his ass off.

The next day, there was still some electricity in the air, but Jun sensed that something was amiss. Whispering between Aoki and Kimura caught her ear, but ceased when she looked in their direction. _Are they still upset about the sparring?_ Jun had already reconciled with Aoki, and the body language of the two men spoke more of suspicion rather than bitterness. It wasn’t until Takamura was called into the circle and adopted a narrowed gaze that Jun’s internal alarms went off. _This isn’t a good sign._ Pretending to mind her own business, she heard their footsteps approaching in unison and turned to meet them.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” Jun tried to be cordial and not at all suspicious.

“Heeeey, Tagawa-kun! We were just wondering if anything else happened this past week while we were out… anything noteworthy?” Aoki asked first.

Jun feigned ignorance. “Uhhh, I can’t think of much else besides my decision announcement… Oh yeah! I did take up your spot temporarily at the restaurant while you guys were gone. I’m trying to save up some money for fun stuff, y’know, food, carving supplies...”

“Interesting, interesting! Come on, let’s hear the details about it in the locker room!” Aoki guided the way.

Jun knew this was a trap, but against her better judgment and for Kamogawa’s advice, she played along.

As a safety measure, Takamura positioned himself between her and her escape route. “Sooo, Himomame-kun! Trying to save up money, that’s an honorable thing to do, very honorable.”

Jun crossed her arms. “Get to the point.”

“The funny thing is, I heard you’ve been spending your money… on making kare-raisu?”

She tapped her fingers on her arm, then dug in. “Is that a crime?”

Takamura screamed in her face. “It IS when you’re making it for the enemy!!!”

Kimura shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Himomame-kun, I am shocked! How could you stab Ippo in the back not once, but twice in the same evening?”

“Dinner AND designer shoes? How did you afford that?” Aoki leered.

“What are you –” Jun lowered her eyelids. “Oh. I get it now. You guys got third hand information and now your imaginations are going apeshit. In that case, I’ll set the record straight.” She cracked her neck and proceeded to recall the events leading up to the kare-raisu dinner.

“What’s a favor coupon?” Kimura asked.

“It’s pretty much a note promising a homemade dinner on the house in case of emergency. It was Big Brother that called up the favor, though.”

“Uh-oh,” Takamura grinned, wishing he could break out the popcorn for the rest of the story to come.

“I couldn’t back out, so I sucked it up and brought ingredients for one of the easiest dishes I could make. He then hovers over me while I’m cooking, making fun of me for not being manly because I can prepare food…” She aimed her words at Aoki, who sneered at the sentiment. “But I stood my ground and cooked dinner. That curry mix tasted like old shoe, but with the help of spices, I upgraded it.” Jun crossed her arms again and focused on Aoki.

“…To designer shoe curry...” He connected the dots.

“Does that match at all with what you were told?”

“I, uh… well, I guess so...” Aoki felt pinned to the wall.

“So you didn’t get beaten to a pulp… and you didn’t get to plow little sister, either...” Takamura was putting both too much and no thought at all into his statement. Jun could only scrunch her face in disgust before finally answering. “… Riiiight.”

“My question is, why are you being so nice to Kumi-san in the first place? Isn’t that insulting to Ippo?” Kimura countered. Takamura snapped his fingers and immediately pointed at Jun.

She looked at him with calm assurance. “Wouldn’t you be nice to her, too?” Kimura looked to the side with a cheeky half-grin. Jun closed her eyes and shrugged. “I was being nice because… well, it’s all part of the plan.”

They were all almost in unison. “What plan?”

Jun had to think quickly, because she was pulling this bluff out of her ass. “Isn’t it obvious? It’s part of my gratitude towards the Makunouchi household. I call it… ‘PROJECT WINGMAN! … or, for Hiroko’s sake, ‘PROJECT GRANDCHILDREN!” She took a performance bow. They all faulted sideways at this stupid proclamation.

Takamura knocked her shoulder with a swat. “What are you going on about!”

Jun had to take a moment to realign. “OW… What I am TRYING to get at is that I want to build better connections so I can help Ippo go on a successful date with Kumi.”

“In other words, you’re interfering.” Kimura flatly stated.

“And you guys DON’T?” Jun swung an accusing finger in an arc.

“Not to the point of going to the girl’s house, we don’t!” Kimura retorted. “I can understand you wanting to help, but this is the opposite of consideration!.”

Aoki inserted himself into the conversation. “Take it this way, Jun. I appreciate that you let me give that little carving to my sweet Tomiko-chan as a gift— which, by the way, I consider that carving my ‘lucky dog,’ as it’s gotten me lucky, doggy-style...” He groped a hand in the air for emphasis while Jun deadpan absorbed the TMI. “But I would have knocked you out the window if you went over to her house, cooked dinner, then gave her the carving, and who knows what else afterward!” He heartily slapped at her shoulder. “So it’s best to stay out of this and let Ippo do his thing.”

Jun reflexively snarked at the last part and her filter slipped. “Let him do it with his thing...”

They stared at her for a couple of seconds before snickering themselves.

“Exactly!” Takamura shot a finger gun.

Jun let out a sigh and crossed her arms with a defeated smile. “Alright, I’ll let Ippo face her brother without any interference. Just when I was starting to get on Mashiba’s good side, too...”

Their smiles dropped, and looked at each other with sideways glances.

“Wait, weren’t you just saying he was mocking you?” Kimura finally pointed out.

“Oh, he did, believe me! But I stood up to him, he eased off, let me cook, and even offered for me to stay and eat. We’re on good terms now.”

Kimura had a deathly serious look of disbelief. “Good terms? With you? I think you may have signed your death warrant.”

Jun started getting defensive. “Ippo put his neck out for me, so I’m doing the same for him. So what if Mashiba gets pissed off with me? Everyone does.”

“Aren’t you afraid he’s going to split you like a wishbone, too? Hmm?” Takamura swung in next to her with frightening speed. Jun instinctively stepped away, now embarrassed both by her flinching and her unfortunate remark to Kamogawa, whose alliance now clearly ran with his established boxers.

“You decide to pussyfoot around all of us, but you cook a stupid dinner and now you think you’re a tough guy?” Takamura whipped his hand in an arc to make a point, forcing her to reel back into the lockers to avoid it. He cornered her, continuing his rant. “I heard how you wanted to test his punch, and now you want to test his patience, which is way thinner than you ever were. You underestimate him, and it’s going to cost you.”

Before Jun could even retort, Kimura added to the statement. “Have you ever seen one of Mashiba’s fights, Tagawa-kun?”

Jun looked back and forth between the two, still plastered to the locker. “Well, no...”

Takamura cut her off. “Then come to my place, I’ll show you the tapes of his fights between Miyata and Ippo.” He glared at her. “Unless you want to dance around that, too, pretty boy?”

Jun was mad and embarrassed, but his words had a point that stung in such a way that made her think twice about dismissing him as a trolling bully.

They made arrangements and left the locker room. Ippo was so entrenched in his training that he hadn’t realized they were gone until they filed out through the locker room doors. Jun was the one to approach him, looking over her shoulder.

“Hey Ippo, I need to ask you something...” She was keeping an eye on the guys, who were giving her side glances as well. When she turned to see Ippo’s child-like expectant face, her heart felt like it had withered rotten. She was about to begrudgingly call in her favor and have Ippo be her meat shield while visiting Takamura’s apartment, but doing such a thing would make the whole effort a moot point, serving to prove Takamura right. This was something she had to do on her own, as risky as it was.

“What is it?” He said with a disarming smile.

Jun had a constipated look. “...Nevermind.” She turned to walk away, and Ippo started back on his jump ropes. A thought quickly interjected in Jun’s head. “Wait! Uh, Ippo...”

He stopped again to listen intently. “Yeah?”

“I wanted to let you know… if those guys talk to you about me and what they say bothers you, I want you to come talk to me, even if it’s just to clear the air, okay?”

Ippo was confused by what she meant, but agreed anyway. “Uh, sure? I guess.” He took a moment to glance in each of their directions, noticing the side looks Jun was getting before they all went back to business. He decided not to think too hard on it and followed suit.

The night fell, and Jun reported back to the gym to follow Takamura to his apartment. She had changed into her frumpiest clothes as a security measure, and had her knife hidden on her body. What she wasn’t prepared for was the assault on her senses the moment he opened the door. The smell of ancient jizz and sweaty laundry hung in the air like a fetid fog that teased her gag reflex. Porn magazines and video tapes were everywhere and the whole apartment was in disarray. She could feel the grime on the floor pluck at her socks as she walked in. The only thing that gave her any semblance of reassurance was the bust of his head that she carved sitting on a bookshelf. She actually felt a small twinge of pride, seeing her piece on display.

“Home sweet home!” Takamura boasted. “Don’t mind the mess. Now let’s see here...”

He started digging through a pile next to the TV. Magazines flopped around Jun’s feet, and her brief respite was soon buried under the porno. Some flapped open, showing young girls splaying themselves and dripping with fluids.

 _Now with scratch ‘n sniff…_ Jun nearly retched at the thought.

“Usuu! Found ‘em!” Takamura held up two VHS tapes, one without a cover.

She hesitantly knelt into a sitting position next to him as he hit fast forward past the intro.

“This one is the Miyata fight. He lost to Mashiba. It really upset Ippo, since he had a homo crush on the guy.”

Jun didn’t understand why he felt the need to bring up such a flippant statement. “...What?”

“Oh yeah, that’s right! Miyata left the gym well before you came on board, so you wouldn’t know who he is. He was the first guy Ippo sparred with in the ring.”

As much as Jun thought he was exaggerating about the ‘homo crush’ part, it didn’t seem as far-fetched when she remembered how misty eyed Ippo got reminiscing about his first spar.

When the tape showed a close-up of Miyata, His intense look set off an old tell in Jun’s past experience. “He looks like a rich kid.”

“Heh! I can’t say you’re completely wrong, but that doesn’t mean he bought his way up. He has natural talent and works hard to keep it sharp.”

She watched as the handsome young man tested his footwork in the ring, his fancy boot tassels swinging with each step. She was glad she had never met him face to face.

The camera then focused on Mashiba, who had shorter hair, but the same expression of worldly disgust. She couldn’t help but notice that his upper body has gained a lot more muscle tone since then.

“Now, watch carefully.” Takamura spoke with gravity.

The round started with anticipation, and then the first hit set the energy. Jun quickly became impressed with Miyata’s quality of fighting. When Mashiba switched to hitman stance, Jun got a chill. The first time he landed a flicker, she tensed up, wide eyed at the TV. She could feel that hit reverberating in her shoulder. Takamura took notice of the reaction.

“What a reach...” She marveled, thinking about how he was a little closer to her when that punch landed.

Despite the daunting punches, Miyata showed his prowess and threaded through for a knock down. This jolted her. She watched with a simmering distaste as Miyata went to his corner with a confident and silently mocking pose. Mashiba rose, and avoided a punch to the face when the bell rang.

“From what you’ve shown me in your spar with Kimura, you have some hints of Miyata’s fighting style.” Takamura commented during the rest period with a pinkie digging into his nostril.

“Uhh… thanks?” Jun knew there had to be a catch for him to be complimenting her like that.

“You’re nowhere near his league and you’re so rusty you creak, but the way you try to avoid hits is very similar.”

“And I’ve got the angry, pretty boy look too, apparently,” she stated, not amused. Looking back at Miyata’s calm and unenthusiastic demeanor in the corner –with a spotless face, it was a stark contrast to Mashiba throwing a fit.

“Keep what I said in mind for later.” Takamura spoke ominously.

The bell rang and Jun’s stomach started to tighten as she saw Ryo get the brunt end of a one-sided ass beating. Seeing his bruised and swelling face was making her blood bubble, similar to how it did when she was lying in her tent that exhausting, fateful day. Miyata continued to dance about Mashiba’s wild swings when suddenly Ryo got a solid hit in and turned the fight completely around.

“Did you see it?” Takamura asked.

“Wait, what happened?!” Jun thought she must have blinked, because she missed it. Takamura rewound the tape and played it back in slow motion.

“You can’t really see it from this angle, but right… here.” Takamura paused on a frame where both fighters’ stances were awkward. It took her a second to realize that their positioning indicated that Mashiba had stepped hard on Miyata’s foot. Takamura watched as the realization crept across her face.

“He cheated!” She exclaimed.

Takamura nodded slowly. “Now keep watching.”

He played the video again and she watched as Mashiba viciously tore into him to the point of resisting the referee before Miyata crumpled to the canvas. Takamura paused the tape.

“Are you starting to understand?”

Jun couldn’t figure out how to feel about this. It was a combination of disgust and horror smothering the sense of satisfaction she was wanting to have. She clenched her fists upon her thighs.

Takamura resumed the tape. Miyata struggled hard to get up before the ten count. Despite his clear injury, he kept fighting and the second round ended. When the third round started, Jun had to say something.

“Wait, he can still fight like that?”

Takamura only pointed to the screen. The round continued, with Miyata taking a few hits and mostly dodging. He kept trying, but it was obvious that nothing good was going to come of it. Things only got worse until out of nowhere, he countered Mashiba. Still, it was a moot point as Mashiba continued laying into Miyata until something startled him into backing off. Miyata had started fighting again when all hope seemed lost. He gave it his all, but ended up getting KO’ed when Mashiba put in a solid hit. The referee waved his hands and Miyata was carried out unconscious on a stretcher.

Jun was silent while Takamura changed the tapes.

“...What happened to him? Is he still…?”

“Yeah, his body recovered, but his pride was scarred.” Takamura tossed the VHS on the nearby pile. “He went to Thailand for his following matches. Ippo went into a funk for a while before finally pulling his head out of his ass.”

The next tape showed something Jun had never seen before; Ippo visibly angry. As the two met in the ring, she could almost feel the heat emanating from him. “Whoa.. he is PISSED.”

“Can you blame him?” Takamura leaned back on his arms.

The fight started with promise by a rush from Ippo, but the moment he fell for Mashiba’s feint, Jun got vociferous. “Oh COME OOON! Get your nerve back, man!”

It took a lot of struggling and near misses before Ippo could gain back his momentum. “Yesss, that’s it!”

The first bell rang before anything could happen of it. “Dammit...” Jun exhaled.

“You get frustrated with him a lot, don’t you?” Takamura stated pointedly.

“Can you blame me?” She mimicked. “I see him lose his nerve way too often, and when I see him work as hard as he does, I can’t help but wonder if he has a trick spine that vanishes with a wave of a magic wand.”

“You’ve never had a pro fight before. You shouldn’t talk so lightly about keeping nerve,” Takamura sent her a stern look.

“I’m just talking about regular life stuff. He can be sharp as a tack in the ring, don’t get me wrong, but man, that thumb end outside the ring...” Jun shrugged.

The fight resumed. It was only the second round, and Mashiba pulled out another dirty trick; the elbow block. Jun couldn’t believe her eyes when Ippo’s glove crumpled to a dead stop around bone. “Is that LEGAL?!”

“It shouldn’t be...” Takamura lowered his eyelids.

The damage was showing quickly, but Ippo kept going to the point of punching into Mashiba’s elbow repeatedly. This set Jun off to the point of sitting up and screaming at the television.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! YOU’RE GOING TO RUIN YOUR HAND LIKE THAT!!”

Takamura was about to respond with affirmation when a heavenly aura permeated his peripheral vision. Glancing over, he saw the source of the divine beacon.

Jun’s luscious booty.

He sat there in stunned awe as she continued to yell at the TV, the curves shifting the folds of her sweats as she made incremental movements related to her ranting. When he felt his chub push against his pants, he quickly grabbed the nearest magazine to shove his face in.

“Dammit, Ippo! If only you could palm strike in boxing… Don’t tell me he’s like this the whole fight—” Jun turned to see Takamura lusting through one of his porn mags rather than pay attention. _Seriously!? You’re doing this now?_ Jun glanced down and saw the bulge. _Uuugh, no…_ She sat back down and seethed while watching the video.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, he broke his hand. Idiot...” Takamura spoke from behind the magazine. When he heard Jun getting heated again a few moments later, he peeked from behind the pages to look again. Jun was still seated, and it wasn’t much of a view, but his imagination filled in the gaps. _When did Himomame-kun develop those muscles?! How have I never noticed before??_ Sweat started to prick at his brow. _I… I have to touch it._

He waited patiently for Jun to lean forward again, but it didn’t happen, even after Jun witnessed Ippo sacrificing his hand to deliver the body blows and the final uppercut that downed Ryo for a KO.

“HE DID IT!!” She straightened up in excited disbelief.

Takamura had his eyes mostly closed and his arms crossed. “You’re awfully excited… I thought you would be rooting for long guy.”

Jun’s excitement tempered, now realizing how irritated everyone must have been with her. “I… I didn’t know. I didn’t realize that he got to where he did was because...” The rest of her sentence was finished in her head by Kamogawa giving her advice about how there are worse boxers. _Even he knew what was going on. Of course he would, word travels fast. I just hope that they only saw it as me looking up to the wrong person as a role model._

“Well, now you know. Maybe you’ll have better respect for Ippo.” He ejected the tape and stacked it on top of the other one.

Jun sat there, staring off into nothing. She felt deflated, wondering if this was karmic payback for her actions. _I have a lot of growing to do, don’t I?_

“Alright kid, time to go home.” His voice snapped Jun out of her stupor. “Unless you want to stick around for a while longer...”

Jun heaved a sigh. “Nah, I’m good. Thanks for the wake-up call, Takamura.” She pulled herself up and walked to the door.

“Any time, kiddo!” He slapped her ass and gave it a squeeze. Jun’s glute immediately tensed in his palm, making Takamura tense in his own right.

In that split second interaction, Jun had whipped out of his grasp by whirling a left hook around, the only thing stopping her from her grim fate was the wall catching her last two knuckles and peeling a red streak to the door frame. Her eyes were lit with sheer livid hate, teeth gritted so tight they were crackling, and a deep, bitter growl uttered from her throat. Any self-preservation was gone, save for the wall anchoring her, and she was ready to die on this tiny, erect hill. Takamura waved his hands up and down to feign innocence.

“Eeeasy, Himomame-kun! Haven’t you ever seen football players smack each other around?”

The blood vessels in Jun’s eyes were threatening to burst, she was so angry. Her knuckles were starting to slide free of the door frame’s saving grace.

Takamura wasn’t afraid. “What? What are you gonna do about it, tough guy?” He postured.

Like a referee, Jun heard her own voice in her head jump in to stop her anger. _WAIT!! He still thinks you’re a man!_ As a double check, she studied his body language and reviewed what he just said. It all checked out. _Which MEANS…_

The relaxation of her muscles flowed through her like milk poured into hot tea. Her face changed from rabid psycho to calm psycho. She smoothly regained a standing posture, laughing deep and slow. She closed her eyes and started laughing more jovially. “Hnn hnn hnnn! How very interesting...”

Takamura was still wary, but started to play along, chuckling himself. “Yeah. Happens all the time.”

Jun put her hands in her pockets and started walking toward one of the piles of porn mags. “I think I get it now...”

She pulled up a random one and started flipping through it, laughing low again.

Takamura was now warily confused, but also intrigued. He eyed Jun up and down. _Weird kid..! Wasn’t expecting him to start looking through my stash like that… Is he trying to work up some nerve? Did he take it… as a hint?_ He quickly gulped down his rapid salivation before inquiring. “Get what?”

Jun found a magazine with two pages stuck together and peeled them apart. A guy was riding a woman from the back. _Interesting…_ She flung the magazine to the floor and picked up another to flip through.

“What you meant by dancing around...” The magazine had pages stuck on a dude giving a woman a pearl necklace. _Very interesting…_ She tossed that one to the floor and picked up a third one. “What it means to be a REAL MAN...” She found pages stuck together of a close-up someone obscured by long hair licking pre-ejaculate from a muscular man’s tip. _I think I can see the pattern here…_ She chucked the magazine onto the pile with a careless thwack.

As much as Takamura wanted to bisexually interpret Jun’s words as flirtatious, he didn’t like the aggressively conflicting actions. “Hey, hey, watch it!”

Jun roughly scooted the pile apart with her foot, flinging magazines wide. As bitterly petty as she felt with no sense of self-preservation, something caught her eye. Among the brightly colored magazines with pretty girls smiling, there was a black shadow with a starkly lit woman’s face glowering back at her. Before Jun could properly register what she was seeing, Takamura yanked her up by her collar, lifting her from the ground. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!”

“Wait, wait, wait! Hold up, what IS that!?” Jun was frantically pointing to the pile, not even looking at Takamura.

“DON’T TRY TO BULLSHIT ME, KID!”

She finally looked at him with a wide-eyed excitement. “I’m serious!! What is that face! That face in the shadow, right there! The angry woman!!” She waved her pointing finger, desperately trying to get his attention. Takamura wasn’t about to take the bait easily, but thinking that it might explain Jun’s behavior, his line of sight followed her arm just enough to pull the object in question into view. There was indeed a dark magazine in the pile, one that he didn’t quite recall being there.

He shifted his view back onto Jun’s face, still angry, but shrugging his shoulders slightly. “I dunno.”

Jun fussed and struggled. “Oh, just put me down, already!”

He begrudgingly obliged, and Jun situated herself to pull the item free. She studied the front cover. In giant white letters, the title read EROTIQUE with the name PIERRE SAUVANT underneath. The magazine was thin, like a sampler, and had three different languages on it.

Takamura’s memory kicked in. “Right, I forgot about that. It was a bonus item that came bundled with one of the packages. I never bothered with it, seemed too artsy.”

Jun opened to the first pages and was blown away. It was a manipulated photo of the same woman’s face repeated four times in an arc over the page, her face lit differently each time like the phases of the moon, and a different expression each time. The caption read, “The Four Stages.” The next page was a naked woman photographed from behind and at a worm’s eye view, walking towards an unseen target with her hands curled like angry claws.

“It’s… it’s beautiful!” She breathlessly spoke.

Takamura looked over her shoulder to see what she was mooning over. “Ah, so this is your taste, huh?” Jun didn’t even notice him as she turned page after page of stunning experiments of light, composition, and subtle erotic imagery. She froze on a page of a woman sitting with arms and legs at odd, sharp angles and her hair drifting upward like fire. The image spoke to her, reminded her so vividly of that special night by the campfire under the stars. She swallowed hard.

“I… I need to make this.”

Takamura laughed in a confused crescendo. “Hahahahuhwhat??”

Jun turned to him with genuine intensity. “I NEED to carve this!” She tapped her finger at the page. “Come on, can’t you see it?”

She wrapped the other pages behind and walked over to the TV, propping the magazine on top. “A statue, right here.”

Takamura was incredulous. “Whaaat?! You would carve me another statue??”

“There’s no way I’d be able to keep it with me, not with my bosses around...” Jun explained. “What do you say? Sound like a cool project?”

He crossed his arms and grinned. “Heh! Yeah, sure, go for it!”

Jun closed the magazine back up. “So, can I borrow this for a while?”

“Keep it! Probably would’ve gotten tossed, eventually.” He gave a thumbs up.

Jun lit up. “Thanks, man!” A thought occurred and she changed expression. “Oh, can you keep this a secret? Until it’s finished, that is.”

“Sure thing, kid!” Takamura stepped back so Jun could take leave. As she exited the door, he stopped her for one last detail. “Uh, I don’t have to pay you for this, right?”

Jun looked at the wall, down at her skinned hand, and then up at his face with disenchantment. A half smile rose. “Let’s just call it even, shall we?” She thumped the rolled up magazine in her hand.

He didn’t understand what it meant, other than he didn’t have to pay money. That was good enough for him. “Yeah, okay...”

She left, and he closed the door behind him. He stood there, contemplating for a few moments. The bulge came back.

“Dammit, KID!!” He threw a punch into the wall next to Jun’s bloody streak, cracking the stucco. “I can’t DO ANYTHING until after my match!!”

He threw on a hoodie and went out to do roadwork to calm himself down. _Whatever, you little shit. Just stay out of my way._ He threw a few punches, and continued down the street. _You’d better not tell anyone about this, or your tight little ass is grass._ He switched to high gear to leave that thought behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Leave it to Jun to get Hiroko to put her foot down. :D  
>  • I couldn’t resist putting in a quote from CREEPSHOW. “It’s almost hellishly perfect!”  
>  • The description of the super bantamweight guy unintentionally ended up being similar to En from Dorohedoro.  
>  • Aoki getting his clangers rang reminded me of how Little Mac from the NES version of PUNCH OUT had to really struggle to keep his hits above the belt for nearly all of his opponents.  
>  • Oh, Takamura… you were so close. Another instance where this would not have gone well in the canon universe. How neither of them broke bones punching the wall could be written up as plot convenience.


	10. GROWING PAINS AND CELEBRATIONS

It was getting late, and Hiroko had already turned in. Ippo was going over fight tactics in his head and doing light shadow boxing when Jun came back home.

“Welcome back!” He exclaimed. “How did it go?”

Jun looked around to make sure the coast was clear. “Uh, it went… it went well enough...”

Ippo gave an abashed look. “Takamura’s apartment takes some getting used to, that’s for sure.”

“No kidding…” Jun flashed a wide-eyed expression. “Sorry I’m late, I had to stop and get some carving supplies.” She pulled a shopping bag from behind her.

Ippo perked up. “Oh, you’re making something new?”

“Oh-ho, yeah. It’s going to be different. In fact, I might have to stash it in your room while I work on it. Is that okay with you?”

Ippo didn’t quite know what to make of that statement, but was open to help out his friend. “Uh, yeah, I don’t see why not.”

“The problem is, you have to keep it a secret until it’s finished, so it needs to stay hidden.” Jun shifted her feet.

They walked quietly to Ippo’s room. “Is it a gift for someone?” He asked.

“You could say that.”

The door was eased open and shut. Jun did her best to talk quietly as not to wake Hiroko while she set her bag on the floor. Ippo noticed the wound on her hand.

“What happened to your knuckle!?”

“I slammed on the brakes,” she vaguely responded, placing the supplies on the floor. “Anyway, the reason for the secrecy is because it’s a risky project, and I don’t want your mom getting upset with me. Are you ready?” Jun warned.

“Risky?” Ippo didn’t understand yet.

“I WAS just at Takamura’s place, you know. I found something there that inspired me.” She pulled out the rolled up magazine.

Ippo’s eyes widened and gulped. “…Oh...” He knelt down across from Jun as she unfurled the magazine. She flipped to the page with the Kindled Woman. “This is what I want to carve.”

When he saw the photo, Ippo was mildly relieved. “Oh! Wow! Heh, I thought it was going to be something more...”

“H themed?” She finished his sentence.

Ippo rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. “Y-yeah...”

“I want to ask again, Ippo. Is it okay to keep this in your room while I work on it, and you won’t tell anyone?” Jun looked at him seriously.

“Of course! I think it’s going to look neat, like a statue you see at an art museum,” Ippo smiled.

She felt flattered that he already thought so highly of her work that wasn’t even started yet. “Thanks, Ippo.”

As she put the magazine down with the rest of the items, she worked up the nerve to apologize.

“Um, listen… there’s also some stuff I need to tell you. I didn’t realize how much of an asshole I’ve been until Takamura pointed it out to me. So… I owe you an apology. A few, actually.”

Ippo laughed. “What!? You don’t need to apologize for anything! He likes to mess with people’s heads.”

Jun emphasized her words. “NO… he was right. I need to come clean on a few things.”

She explained how she had secretly contacted the Mashiba family and provided them with food, apologized for overstepping boundaries, and told how Takamura showed her the videos and illustrated why Mashiba was more than just Ippo’s former opponent. It was a lot for Ippo to take in, but he could see that Jun wanted to make things right and was glad that Jun understood things better now.

“That Miyata guy… was he your friend?” Jun asked.

“Miyata-san probably doesn’t think so, but I looked up to him. He helped me, a lot. We had promised that we would face off in the Rookie Kings, to settle the score between us. But it didn’t happen...” Ippo tightened his fists from the memory.

“Yeah… I was looking up to Mashiba as a beacon of hope against starvation. Then I find out he’s a dirty cheat. No wonder everyone was mad at me.” Jun let out a sigh of defeat.

“But you didn’t know that at the time!” Ippo tried to comfort Jun.

“So, you’re okay with me trying to befriend Mashiba-san?” Jun timidly asked.

“If you can pull it off, I don’t see why not!” Ippo was genuinely happy, but turned embarrassed. “In fact, I think it’s really helpful. I’m glad you could help out Kumi-san, too. I just wish I could do something nice like that...”

Jun smiled knowingly. “You like her, don’t you.”

Ippo became flustered. “Ah! Umm… well, it’s just that… she’s so sweet, and I enjoy her company, and I don’t dislike her or anything...”

Jun wanted better confirmation than that. “So, is she your girlfriend?”

Ippo flat out denied it, but his actions made him transparent as glass.

Jun pressed in a different direction. “But, if she wanted to be your girlfriend, would you say ‘no?’”

Ippo remained silent and looked to the side, blushing. “She wouldn’t want to be my girlfriend...”

As much as Jun wanted to chew him out for hemming and hawing, she was here to make things right, not to ream him over the coals. “Did she tell you those exact words?”

Ippo shifted uncomfortably. “No, but…” He trailed off, unable to find an excuse.

“Well, don’t be so sure of it, then.” Jun smiled wryly.

It was time for Ippo to make a confession of his own. “Umm… it’s just that… you two were talking so much at the restaurant, and on the train, and you’re so smooth and confident...”

 _Ah, shit…_ Jun felt caught. “Ippo, don’t think of it like that! I’m not in love with her, honest! Yes, she’s sweet, and I think she deserves nice things because life shouldn’t have to shit so hard on someone so wonderful and hard working, but she’s not my type!” Jun opened up the magazine to the claw handed woman. “I like ‘em fierce.”

Ippo was struck by this admission, as well as the photograph. “Whoa! S-seriously?!”

Jun was trying to keep her responses to a minimum, but even she couldn’t resist suggestively waggling her eyebrows.

Ippo was turning beet red at this point. “I… I didn’t know you were like that… I mean, you haven’t… have you?” He was making bumping motions with his hands.

Jun answered in veiled honesty. “If you mean sex, then yeah, I’ve done it a few times before arriving to Tokyo. Oral too, but I’m not great at it.”

Ippo couldn’t handle this kind of information, even though Kimura had previously alluded to it. “But! But you’re so young!”

“Yeah, and I was a delinquent for years, too. Used to fool around in the stairwells at school.”

Ippo’s disbelief about Jun’s attitude towards Kumi came back in force. “… But you w-weren’t planning on fooling around with K… K...??”

“No.” She flatly answered, followed by a sigh. “Listen, as much as I admire the Mashiba family, even if I did want to ‘fool around’ with Kumi-san, I’m not so stupid as to stick my hand through the brotherly bear trap… No offense.”

“No, I understand...” Ippo turned grey at the thought of Jun’s head snapping back and forth from flicker jabs.

“As bad as it sounds though, I would like to be able to visit them again. If they call in another dinner favor, could you come with me, if possible? I’ll try my hand at unagi don if that day comes.”

Ippo sheepishly smiled and gave a positive nod.

She tucked the bag and the magazine away in a drawer and left his room to get ready for bed.

As happy as Ippo was for Jun, the feeling was set aside as his mind shifted to the upcoming title fight with Date Eiji. He did a little more shadow boxing to try and diffuse his anxiety. His rhythm was interrupted by the mental image of Jun and Ryo giving each other a high five as buddies, with Jun really having to reach for it. He muffled a laugh.

 _Wow, so Tagawa-kun wants to be friends with Mashiba-san. It’ll be difficult, knowing Tagawa-san’s past, but he seems so nice now._ Ippo tried to start up his shadow boxing again, but his eyes wandered to the drawer. Jun’s admission to promiscuity started to haunt his thoughts. _He said Kumi-san wasn’t his type, and I believe him._ He tried once more to start, but the image of the claw handed woman approaching a tiny Jun with a tinier erection made him cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. He wasn’t one to laugh at other people’s misfortune, but it simply felt ludicrous that someone like Jun would have done it more than zero times from what he’s seen. _I guess it was just cold that day._ An invasive thought followed. _Did the starvation shrink it?_ Ippo was not keen on where his thoughts were leading him. _He’s recovered since then…_ Ippo forced the thoughts to stop in time for him to get ready for bed after Jun finished up in the bathroom.

After turning out the lights, he tried to go to sleep, but was still fidgety. The fight was still roughly a month and a half away, but the weeks tend to go by quickly for him when he’s focused on training. Ippo looked in the direction of the drawer, sighed, and looked back at the ceiling. _I hope he finishes that up soon. I hope Takamura wins, too. I need to win, as well._ It took some work, but Ippo calmed himself down enough to fall asleep.

The better part of the following two weeks were spent with each focusing on their own goals. Jun worked on the statue in the few hours she could get where he was still at the gym and she didn’t have to work. There was some delay when Umezawa asked Jun to help with his manga project, and he taught her how to properly control ink in a brush stroke and was pleasantly surprised that she didn’t require much training to cut tone for pages. In return, she had asked to use one of his reference books for her carving. Upon inquiry, she made him swear to keep quiet about it before divulging on details. He could understand all too well the need for project secrecy. While working on the carving, Jun realized that she preferred photo reference for her projects. Umezawa caught wind of this and offered to let Jun borrow his camera for future projects. Jun went through a lot of mistakes practicing photography, and learned from them. By the time Takamura’s match came around, the Kindled Woman was complete. Both Ippo and Umezawa were impressed.

Jun was not bursting her buttons with excitement when she tagged along with the group to go watch Takamura’s fight. At first, she did take pleasure at seeing him take hits that threatened to drop him, but in the end she got caught up in everyone’s energy and shouted a few encouragements before he finally took his opponent down. Of course, she too, ended up slinking away with the rest of the group when the hall started yelling at the Pervert Champion, who was taunting from the neutral corner with the distressed interviewer damsel in tow.

The day after Takamura returned to the gym after healing from his injuries, Jun came in with a serious look, carrying a paper gift bag. She weaved past the other gym members, greeting as she went, until she approached Aoki. She rapped at his shoulder gently with her knuckles to grab his attention. Without saying a word, she motioned him to follow. She did the same with Kimura, and then approached Takamura.

“Oooi, Himomame-kun! What’s in the bag?” He eased down a barbell.

“Locker room, please.” She said curtly.

Once situated at the middle bench, Jun set down her weighted backpack and reached into the paper bag. “The Kindled Woman is finished.”

She pulled out the statue to the awe of the group.

“Congratulations on winning the title, Takamura,” she smiled, handing it to the big guy.

“Whoooah! That’s amazing, Tagawa!” Aoki leaned in for a closer look.

Kimura looked at her, stunned, but a little confused. “You made that as a gift for him?”

“It was something I wanted to make for myself, but I had no place to put it, so it’s going to stay at his place.” Jun shrugged.

“Ha! I’m keeping it!” Takamura turned it in his hands to take in all the detail.

Jun laughed. “I thought you weren’t into that artsy crap!”

“HEY! You want me to torch this instead?” He jabbed.

Jun blanched. “Please, don’t.”

When they were done looking at it, Takamura put it back in the bag and in his locker while Jun put her bag in hers. Takamura had to get in one last comment. “You missed a great opportunity to make her tits huge, though.”

Her eyes rolled up into her brow. “Damn. Wish I had thought of that.” Her sentiment was so sarcastically dry, it cracked.

She started to leave when the other two wanted to ask a couple of questions.

“So, are you sure you want to be a professional boxer when you can make stuff like that? You could make some real money on commissions, I bet,” Kimura commented.

Aoki continued with it. “Plus, if you bust up your fists boxing, you might have to retire on both! Are you really gonna risk it?”

Jun shrugged. “I’m still trying to figure things out. Sometimes the brain and the heart want two different things.”

“And the balls. If you think you have the guts to professionally box, then go for it. Don’t let these losers talk you out of it.” Takamura came up from behind and laughed as he pushed through. “But don’t wait on it too long!” He called out as he exited the doors.

“He’s in a good mood now.” Kimura blandly stated.

Aoki leaned in closer. “Hey Tagawa, do you think you could make a statue of my Tomiko-chan, kind of like that one?”

Jun whipped around and glared at him. “Hold up. You said you would knock me out the window if I offered to come over and make dinner, but having her pose nude for me is fine?!”

Kimura lost it while Aoki realized his faux pas.

“No, not like that!! I mean— ah, forget it!”

Jun elbowed him. “Just enjoy her curves with your own hands, man.”

Kimura sobered up some from that comment. “So what are you planning to do next?”

Jun almost forgot. “Oh! Actually, the next thing I want to do will require me to take photographs of your faces. Is that alright with you?”

Both had their curiosity piqued. “Why us?” Kimura asked.

“It’s more than just you, it’s everyone I’ve made friends with around here. When I was camping, I didn’t have a camera to take photos of the people who helped me, so I carved little medallions of them to hang inside my tent, like little mementos to remind me that there are good people out there. Unfortunately, more than a year ago, I lost them all in an emergency bug out that forced me to abandon my stuff. I’ve got the itch to start the habit up again.”

“Wow! That’s neat!” Aoki grinned.

“I’m down for it, but, can we see the end result?” Kimura leaned against a locker.

Jun smiled wide. “Of course!”

Aoki smacked his fist into his hand as a light bulb went off in his head. “That’s a way better idea than a statue of my sweet Tomiko!”

Kimura shoved him towards the door. “Get your head out of her, already. We have to get back to training.”

As the two bickered in front of her while leaving the locker room, she felt glad to have made such entertaining friends.

It was now February, and Jun was starting to chase photo opportunities. She explained her medallion project to the Makunouchi family and to Umezawa, who gladly obliged. After finding a nice long branch to work with, Ippo helped her cut it up into discs. While thinking about the list of people to collect photographs from, Ryo immediately came to mind. She realized that his title fight was in a couple of days, and no one to sneak her up to the balcony. It was unfortunate, but her only choice was to watch the fight as a Saturday evening rerun.

On the day of the fight, Jun’s schedule wasn’t much different than usual, other than she was focusing a lot of time working on her project. It had been a while since she did relief carving, so it took a few tries to get things to look the way she wanted. She was carefully carving out Hiroko’s hair when the phone rang. Ippo was in the back room checking inventory, while Jun was covered in shavings at the dinner table. By the time she got everything wiped off onto her newspaper dropcloth, Hiroko had already picked up. She retrieved Ippo, saying that it was Kimura on the phone. Jun needed a break anyway, so she got up and stretched… and may or may not have intentionally eavesdropped.

“Hello? Um, this is Ippo… Ehh?! H-he lost… Eh, the champion lost..? Then that means Mashiba-san won?! Wow! Mashiba-san’s Amazing!” Jun’s neck telescoped around the corner. Her wide eyes went narrow as the conversation continued. “Calling him inhuman’s kinda...” Ippo had a long, uncomfortable pause. After a beat, he regained his enthusiasm. “Ah! Um, how long was the match? Kimura-san?” He slowly pulled the receiver away from his ear, looking at it with humbleness, and hung up. His thoughts were wandering when Jun spoke up.

“Mashiba-san won the match!?”

Ippo emphatically nodded.

Jun pumped a fist and a wild grin spread across her face. “That’s great! Maybe we’ll celebrate with unagi don when he’s healed up.”

Ippo grinned, feeling like that would be a cool thing to do. At that moment, the phone rang again.

“Y-yes, this is Makunouchi… EH!? It, it’s been a long time! Hello! … I heard! He’s the new champion. Congratulations!” Jun leaned around the corner once more. “…Is something wrong?”

There was an awkward silence as Ippo sat stunned. “Sure, with pleasure... Yeah, I’ll ask him, too, hold on a second...” Ippo held his hand over the phone. “Hey, Tagawa-san, Kumi-san is having a party for her brother tonight! She’s inviting both of us! D-do you want to go?”

Jun lit up like a Christmas tree. “Of COURSE I do!”

Ippo went back to the phone. “Yeah, he’s coming along, too. I need to get changed first, but we’ll be over right away!” He hung up and rushed to his bedroom, but not before giving Jun a thumbs up.

She was excited, and felt the need to get cleaned up as well. “Crap! I have to clean up my shavings!” She scrambled to put her stuff away and sweep up her mess.

When Ippo was asking his mom where his dress clothes went, she was confused by all the hubbub.

“Where are you going? It’s already ten!”

“Impromptu party, Captain! We’re going out to celebrate a victory tonight!” Jun dumped the dustpan contents into the trash.

“You’re going, too?”

“Yup! I know it’s going to make the next morning rough, but It’s an opportunity I don’t want to pass up!”

“And here I thought he was going out to meet a girl.”

Jun laughed and spoke under her breath. “Well, that too… she’s the one throwing the party.”

They both looked down the hall to see Ippo looking his Sunday best while combing his hair down. Hiroko giggled while Jun smiled wryly.

The two set out on foot to the Mashiba residence. It had been a long time since Ippo first did roadwork with Jun in tow, and was blown away by the stark improvement. Even with her camera case alongside her, she had to slow down for him to make sure he didn’t sweat through his good clothes. Along the way, Ippo chatted a little bit about the stuff he wanted to ask Ryo and other little details that might help with his own chance at the title, as well as reinforcing that this wasn’t a date.

“Of course it isn’t a date! We’re just… congratulating an amazing boxer on a match well done…” Jun had to turn her face away to keep her own blushing from showing.

They arrived at the apartment, and everything seemed quiet.

“Alright, Makunouchi-san, time to say hello to your girlfriend –” He shot her an intense look.

“–eh, female acquaintance...”

They both climbed the stairs and Ippo rang the doorbell. Nothing. Ippo started fidgeting with his jacket. Jun was fidgeting with the camera bag strap.

“Uh, she did say the party was at her house, right?” Jun wondered aloud.

“I’m pretty sure that’s what she meant...” Ippo gave a worried look.

“Try the bell again?” Jun shrugged. Before Ippo could do so, the doorknob turned by itself and the door creaked open to a darkened room. A voice murmured from within the void.

“Come in.”

The two looked at each other nervously before Jun started in first. She tried visualizing what the apartment looked like as she wandered in, but Ippo scared her with his own frightened gasp just a few steps in.

“GAH! … Seriously, Ippo!”

“S-s-sorry, It’s… it’s still here…” He stammered.

“What is?”

“The photo...”

Jun had to think a moment to remember what the hell he was talking about. Finally, she recalled something about not using a frame. Her eyes had adjusted enough to see the nape of his neck sticking out past his collar. She couldn’t resist messing with him.

“Be careful of that spider, though.” She reached out and gently tickled her fingertip up his neck. He freaked out, causing her to snicker. She followed his frazzled order to quit it and keep moving.

When they felt they cleared the doorway hall, Jun addressed the pitch black of the apartment. “Hey, it’s Tagawa-san and Makunouchi-san...” She stopped, making Ippo bump into her arm. Sitting against the wall was the barest indication of Ryo within the shadows.

“Shit, he’s dead.” Jun faked such seriousness that it made Ippo jump.

“...Sit,” Ryo murmured.

They sat down at the table. Jun could smell sugar and started getting hungry.

“Ah, um, where’s Kumi-chan?” Ippo blurted.

“Kumi- **chan**?” Ryo’s voice growled.

“Ah, no, I mean, your honorable little sister...”

“Went to buy something.”

“Is that so… hahah...”

“If I had known she was doing this today, I would have made some food. I never did find out what your favorite dish is...” Jun rubbed the back of her neck. Ryo didn’t say anything.

Ippo tried to fill in the awkward silence. “Ah, about today, congratulations!”

“Yeah, kampai!” Jun raised her fist in the darkness.

“Y-you’re the champion now!” Ippo nodded a bow.

Total silence. The two shifted nervously.

 _Now’s probably not the time to play footsie…_ Jun kept her sarcastic naughty thoughts to herself and steered in another direction. “I wanted to watch the match, but I can’t afford to spend money on tickets just yet. I’ll have to catch it later on TV.”

“So- so how hard was it? I heard he was a really strong champion. How many rounds was it?” Ippo asked.

A long silence. Finally, Ryo spoke. “Seven rounds…”

This prompted Ippo to blather on about everything that was on his mind, and Ryo continued to give sparse, morbid responses.

Kumi flicked on the lights. After a few blinks, Jun’s eyes first went to Ryo’s battered face. Every last round showed in the bumps and bruises. Jun rubbed her own face in memory. Her gaze was then drawn down to the gorgeous cake on the table. Jun eyed it like it was her favorite porn, and promptly zoned out. Ippo and Kumi talked for a bit while Jun resisted the urge to wipe some frosting with her finger. She snapped out of it when a party favor was pushed in front of her face. She wanted to laugh at how unenthusiastic Ryo was with the celebration, as she couldn’t blame him. _Smiling with a swollen face is difficult enough as it is_. They popped the favors and talked about the fight, all while Ryo’s forehead wrinkled from facial muscle control stress. Jun took a photo of the cake, Ryo holding up the belt, and a couple of selfies with everyone. When the cake was doled out, Jun was astonished at how good it was and that Kumi made it herself. Jun was almost through her slice when Ippo said it was time for him to call it quits for the night, since he had to get up early.

“What about your cake?” Jun asked after swallowing her bite.

“Sorry, I have to watch my weight.” Ippo looked slightly regretful. Jun narrowed her eyes at him. When Kumi offered to walk them to the taxi stand, Jun waved them on.

“You go on ahead, I want to finish this up first and wash my hands.” She insisted while Ryo eyed her suspiciously. “Go on, I’ll catch up with you!” The moment they headed out the door, her attitude changed to a peppier mode. “Now that they’re gone...” She gulped down the rest of her cake and reached over to grab Ippo’s piece of cake and stuffed it in her mouth. She talked with her mouth full. “Like hell I wash going to let that go to the trafsh, mmm...” She swallowed quickly and put out her hands as a full stop. “No offense, I didn’t want to scare Kumi-san, but the sugar’s taken hold, and I’ve been holding this in for way too long!” She proceeded to excitedly yell. “YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT!! YOU’RE THE CHAMPION!! I’M SO GODDAMNED PROUD OF YOU!” She went to slam her fist on the table, but stopped herself. “Doooon’t pound on the glass table...” She proceeded to slam the floor with her fist. “YOU! KICKED! THAT! GUY’S! ASS!! YOU FOUGHT AND YOU STUCK WITH IT FOR SEVEN ROUNDS, AND YOU WOOOOON!! YOU GOT THE BELT!! YOU DID IT!! HOLY SHIT, YOU’RE AMAZING!!!” After burning that energy off, she washed her hands, put away her camera, and grabbed her coat. “OH! By the way, this is for you. I was planning on giving it to you after you healed, but I guess now is as good of a time. Hope you like it!” She pulled a cube-like object out of her coat pocket and placed it on the table in front of him. Ryo stared at it, puzzled. It was a small gift, with a boxing magazine ad used as wrapping paper. Jun zipped out the door before he could do anything. “Have a good night, Ryo-chan!”

The apartment was quiet now, and he finally felt free to release the smile he’d been holding back.

“Ryo- **chan**?” He peeled off the wrapping paper to find three audio cassettes. One had airbrushed artwork and English writing on it, one was black with some branch-like artwork, and one had a boar’s skull with chains wrapped through it. He raised the eyebrow that didn’t have a swollen knot in it.

Outside, Jun jumped most of the steps getting back down to street level. She jogged over and saw Kumi walking back. _That was fast…_ She approached Kumi and asked if Ippo was already at the taxi stand.

“No, he decided to run part of the way home. He’s excited about his match. Did you need to take a cab?”

Jun immediately forgot about the cake on her stomach. “Nah, I’ll be fine! In fact, I could probably catch up with him.” She gently bowed to Kumi. “Thank you so much for inviting us over! It was good to see you two again.”

Kumi felt a little guilty. “I know you don’t get to stay for long whenever you visit, but I think my brother was happy to have you two come by.”

Jun scratched at her cheek. “Wow, really? I mean, Ippo, too? I know I’ve been kinda pushy, but I figured the bad blood between those two would… ruin things.”

Kumi giggled. “My brother dislikes most people, but Makunouchi-san seems to make the effort to patch things up, and I’m glad.”

“Yeah, Ippo’s pretty cool like that.” Jun rubbed a finger across the bridge of her nose. The sugar was making her mischievous. “Heh! You know… he thinks you’re really sweet, too.”

She blushed. “Oh, really?”

Jun got to the point. “You think you’d go on a date with him?”

She lightly slapped at Jun’s sleeve. “That’s none of your business! … But, I did offer to throw a party for him when he wins his match.”

At first Jun laughed from the slap, but was awestruck that she made a move. “Awww! You like him!”

She whacked Jun again, a little harder this time as her face turned red.

Jun laughed and comically cowered. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop it!” She behaved a little more seriously when she remembered the medallion project. “Oh, before I go, I wanted to let you know that I’m working on a carving project, and it involves all of my friends and everyone who’s helped me out here in Tokyo. Is it okay if I use your photo for it? I’ll have to get one of Ryo later, preferably when he’s not covered in bruises.”

“Oh? Um, I guess it’s okay. What are you working on?” She curled a relaxed fist under her chin.

“I’m making little wooden medallions. They’re kind of like good luck charms, but instead of lucky messages, it has relief carvings of portraits. It’s just a fun little project that’s a little more durable than a photo album.”

Kumi’s eyes gently sparkled. “That sounds amazing! Can I see it when you’re done?”

“Yeah, sure! If you want, I can carve one of Ippo for you so you can wear it right here!” Jun smiled a cheesy grin as she made a heart shape with her fingers over her chest. Kumi whacked her once more on the arm. “Alright, alright! You have a good night then, Kumi-san!”

Kumi hesitated with a shy smile. “Good night, Tagawa-san!”

Returning back inside, Kumi saw that Ryo was still sitting in the same spot, gingerly eating at his cake. Kumi noticed the cassettes and wrapping paper.

“Where did that come from?” She took the rest of the cake to put in the kitchen.

“Present from Tagawa,” he muttered.

When she came back to the living room, she took a closer look at them. “This one looks neat...” Out of curiosity, she dug out her walkman from her room and brought it out to the living room to listen to the cassette with the airbrushed artwork. After popping on the headphones, she pushed play on the tape and was greeted with a high octave scream followed by ripping electric guitar and drums. She couldn’t understand the English lyrics, and pulled the headphones off. “Okay, not for me.”

Ryo, watching her reaction, made a hand motion for the headphones. He held one to his ear, and after several seconds, he tossed the headphones onto the table. “It’s giving me a headache.”

Ryo was already sensitive from the bruises, so at that point anything was going to give him a headache. He forced himself to work through the rest of his slice of cake, even though blood was starting to infuse with each bite. _Like hell you’ll have her cake thrown in the trash, huh._ A smile grew across his face. He looked over at the belt sitting on the floor, catching the light and refracting back jewels. The smile creased into his swollen face, thinking about how that little firebrand threw a happy fit over his victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • As much as I wish I could call bullshit on Ippo for not putting two and two together with Jun saying “I like ‘em fierce” in one moment and “I know it SOUNDS BAD, but I wanna go visit the fierce guy again” in the next, but… it’s Ippo.  
>  • “But… but you’re so young!” Dude, Jun’s 6 months older than you. XD  
>  • Jun doesn’t realize she’s just as big of a goober around her crush as Ippo is around Kumi, if not worse.  
>  • The cassette tapes were references to the RAM IT DOWN album by Judas Priest, the meme about metal bands having illegible, branch-like logos, and the OVERKILL album by Motörhead. Sadly, it’s kind of difficult doing research on what kind of music was popular in Japan in the 90’s across different genres.


	11. OMINOUS CLOUDS

Jun’s nightmares started merging with weird sex dreams. She was in the darkened living room of her house back in Sendai, calling out for someone, anyone. A silhouette stepped out from the darkness. It was Ippo, and yet not. He had the same look on his face from the tape of the Mashiba fight, but his hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a three piece suit. His eyes glowed red. He slowly cornered her in the living room, telling her in a voice that wasn’t his, “You’re a liar, Junko… You’re a liar.” She looked down to see that she was naked. She tried to make a run for it, but she felt so slow as he grabbed her wrists and pinned her to the wall. The evil version of Ippo started to sensually kiss her neck and run his tongue along her collar bone, working his way down. Freaking out, she slowly started to pull free from his hands, but realized that it was no longer his hands holding her up. It felt like rope now. When she finally pulled her wrists free, they were soaked with blood. She nearly kicked out of bed before finally waking up with nausea, cold sweats, and cramping. She’d felt this pattern before, and had the severe need to go sneak some pads and tampons from her backpack. Jun checked the clock, and it was only a few minutes before Hiroko’s alarm. She moved quickly to the closet and made it back to her bed just in time. When Hiroko came out to wake her later, she faked just waking up and hid the items on her person on the way to the bathroom. Just as Jun suspected, there were early signs of menstruation. Like a ninja, she obtained a clean set of clothes from the laundry room and hid away her nighttime chest padding made from cut up t-shirts, heading back to the bathroom without incident. The running water helped mask the pad wrapper. The stress was starting to weigh in on her. She could now qualify for super bantamweight class, partly because of muscle, partly because of fat on her hips and chest. It was closing in on four months living and working with the Makunouchi family. She could only chalk up her success at staying hidden to two main reasons: the cold weather allowing her to layer up, and the regimented daily routine allowing her to predict behavior with alarming clarity. There was a third reason that applied more to the gym: when you can convince two or three people that you’re a man, nobody questions it later at all, no matter how suspicious your activity is. Even while going around taking head shots of key gym members— including the two guys who were her first sparring partners— to make the equivalent of wooden bracelet charms, even with Takamura fully aware of what her ass cheek felt like now, and even with her now blatant Mashiba brown-nosing, there had only been a few rumors of Jun being gay before drying up when news of the Kindled Woman statue circulated, and completely dying out when she started taking small commissions to make erotic miniatures for some of the other gym mates. When Kimura asked for one, Jun demanded an exchange for free flowers for any dates in the future. The sculpture she made for him incorporated his pet dragon fish. Jun was secretly proud of that one, and it gave her an idea for a future project on a much bigger scale.

The day had finally arrived for Ippo’s fight with Date Eiji. The older boxer knew what he was doing, and gradually swung the fight in his favor. With everyone expecting Ippo to pull victory from the jaws of defeat at the last second, Jun went into a numb state of shock when Kamogawa threw in the towel. It was jarring for everyone the next morning, having Ippo sleep through looking like he was hit by a train. She couldn’t tell if this felt better or worse than the hospital stay. Still, she did her usual morning routine of work and training, however she was just as shocked as Ippo was when he dropped by with his health report only to get a response of a three month hiatus. _Ouch… that’s quite a flaw in his gemstone, Kamogawa._ A disconcerting thought popped in her head. _I might be gone by the time he comes back to the gym…_ She tried to focus on getting her workout in before the long stretch of roadwork. She had since replaced the rocks with a towel-padded barbell plate to make room for her belongings. Even so, she still had trouble stopping the habit of picking up a rock from someplace new on her journey to put in her bag. _My legs are going to be so ripped, I’ll be able to kick Takamura’s balls in to ring the bell for a prize._

When she arrived back at the house after picking up her developed film, the sun was starting to set. Ippo greeted her, but she could tell he had been moping about from all of the bad news. She updated him about the photos, which he was just as excited to see how they turned out. Sheepishly, he kept the one with him sitting next to Kumi. After a shower, she guarded her load of laundry in progress and started in on carving a medallion of Ippo. She got lost in thought during the process and didn’t even register the phone ringing from the loud tumbling of the washing machine. Ippo startled her out of her meditative state to tell her that Kumi had called. They proceeded to talk at the end of the hallway.

“...Whoa! You’re going on a date?! Nice!” Jun smiled, glad that she gave Kumi a nudge in the right direction.

“It-it’s not like that!! She just… wanted to do something nice for me… to repay me for coming to the party, n-now that I have free time...” He stammered.

“…But it’s still a date.” Jun wanted confirmation. Ippo rubbed the back of his head, and that was enough proof to make her whoop with excitement. He interrupted her exaltation.

“It’s not a date!! Besides… her brother got to the phone, though… called me a pathetic loser for going out after losing a match…”

Jun gave him an encouraging pat on the back. “Don’t listen to him! You fought hard, and your opponent happened to have more experience and knew a few tricks to trip you up. Besides, Mashiba-san lost to YOU before, so he doesn’t get to brag about jack shit!”

Ippo felt strangely comforted by Jun’s bullheaded logic. She gave him a shake of the shoulders to hammer in an extra message. “Free time is not something you get often, Ippo. Take full advantage of it while you can, because you’ll kick yourself later if you don’t.”

Ippo looked back and forth as if looking at two visualizations of his choices. “All right, but PLEASE don’t tell anyone about this!”

“If anyone asks, I’ll just say that you’re ‘doing roadwork around town,’ and that I suggested you try different routes to clear your head. Actually, you might want to do that later, anyway.”

He nodded and thanked her, and left her to take care of the laundry after the machine dinged.

On the day of Ippo’s date, Jun’s schedule was both different and yet the same. With Ippo on gym hiatus, Jun felt the need to change work tactics. In a bold move, she requested to shadow Hiroko for independent business training while Ippo took her usual shift, and covering for him when he needed time off. That morning there was a lull in the schedule. Hiroko had to stop at the bank, and Jun had the house briefly to herself. Ippo had left for his date half an hour ago.

 _If Kumi is out with him, then I wonder…_ Her mischievous nature got the best of her and she dialed up the Mashiba residence. She figured she’d bullshit an excuse as she would go, but when the phone call went to voice mail, she hung up. _Huh. I can’t remember if he does anything on Sundays._ After lunch, she got her stuff together for her roadwork and decided to try the phone one more time before Hiroko’s return. _Maybe he was on the toilet._ Once again, she got the answering machine and hung up. Jun got a sneaking suspicion concerning Ryo interrupting Ippo’s call from before. _Uh-oh. For your safety, Ippo, I hope you keep your hands to yourself…_

During the week, Jun did apartment research, studied up on her interests, and asked around for job leads. With Kamogawa’s suggestion, she plotted her roadwork to swing by the Monthly Boxing Fan offices. It was a sparse group working at the building, but when Jun mentioned that she was from Kamogawa Gym, a stubbly gentleman in his mid-thirties named Fujii Minoru showed interest in her inquiries.

“Ah, one of Kamogawa’s! Are you looking to join their ranks of pro boxers?” Fujii pulled out a notepad and a pencil.

Jun waved her hands in an embarrassed fashion. “No, it’s nothing like that. I was just curious if you had anyone with a lot of knowledge on photography.”

Fujii flipped the notepad closed, perplexed. “Photography? So boxing isn’t doing anything for you, then?”

“For now, boxing lets me vent my frustrations – and I do enjoy it – but I do a lot of woodcarving too, which forces me to use a lot of photographic reference.” She pulled out one of the work-in-progress medallions she had in her pocket.

He gave a surprised smile. “Ohh, you’re quite the artist! Well, I’m a reporter, but my assistant handles photos a lot better than I do, so you can ask him.” Fujii pointed to the young man with a bowl haircut. The guy seemed rather excited to be called upon for his knowledge, and showed Jun around the developing room and the different types of cameras available.

“If you’re ever looking to get equipment for cheap, I’d suggest keeping an eye out for estate sales. That’s how we got some of our equipment when I first started.” He mentioned different exposure tips and tricks, and big mistakes to avoid. “Whatever you do, make sure that your developing room has a door you can LOCK. Believe me, it’s a necessity!” He offered one last piece of advice before Jun headed out. “Make sure to invest in a dedicated camera, even if it has to be one of the cheaper ones. They have a lot more features to play with, like timers and interchangeable lenses, so it’s worth the investment.”

Jun took the advice to heart and decided that she would ask Umezawa if she could buy his camera. Her luck was in again, as he only asked for 1000 yen and assistance on his manga. She gladly accepted and became the proud owner of his SLR camera.

It was the beginning of March, and Jun was getting spring fever alongside her reveal anxiety. It was a Thursday evening when Jun managed to catch the phone right before she had to leave for the gym. It was Kumi.

“Oh, hello, Kumi-san! Did you need to talk to Ippo? I think he’s still around the house...” Jun tried to remember where he went when the awkward silence on the other end of the line tipped her off. “Is something wrong, Kumi-san?”

“No, it-it’s okay, Tagawa-san, it’s just… (sigh) I’m having a bad day, I’m drained at work, and it’s only lunch time. Could you… Um, are you able to … I mean, that dinner favor… is it still good?”

Jun had almost forgot that it was still in service. “Uh, yeah! Sure! What time do I come over?”

Kumi sounded like she had to hurry things up. “I get off of work at five, so I should be home around five thirty. Thanks.”

Jun caught her before she hung up. “One last thing! Is it okay if I bring Ippo with me to help?”

“Ummmm… y-yeah, that’s fine. I have to go back to work now. Thank you again, Tagawa-san.” The phone clicked and Jun hung up on the dial tone.

_Hmm, that’s quite a wrench in my works. I don’t have anything reserved in the pantry, and I do want to get to the gym before this starts. Glad I promised to take you with me this time, Ippo, because this is going to be tricky._

Jun searched around for him, but didn’t see him anywhere. She checked the fishing schedule, and the boat was due back within half an hour. Her nerves were already jumpy by the time the boat arrived and docked. Jun quickly pulled Ippo aside the first chance she got.

“Ippo, I need your help. I just got a call from Kumi, and I’m worried she might be ill or something.”

He started to get panicky before Jun explained the details of the phone call to him.

“…So what do you need me to do?” He almost crumpled his hat in his hands.

Jun sighed in exasperation. “Okay, so I know I said I would try to make unagi don, but I think that’s out of the question right now.”

Ippo shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Since she sounded exhausted, I’ll make some miso soup in case she’s sick, and something basic with high protein in case she’s iron deficient.”

He looked at her with confusion. “Why would she be iron deficient?”

Jun just looked at him like she didn’t have time to deal with his complete ignorance of women’s issues. “… Stress. Anyway, I’ll make some onigiri, since I can make that pretty fast and it doesn’t require much by way of ingredients. So here’s where you come in. I’ll need you to foot the grocery bill on this one, and I’ll pay you back afterward. The shopping list is on the table in the kitchen, get everything on the list while I’m out. When I get back, you can help me carry the stuff over to her house. Remember! We need to be there before 5:30! I’ll do my best to get back on time. I’m counting on you, Ippo!”

Ippo gave a stout nod and affirmation. Jun left with her weighted backpack and set out on foot.

It didn’t take long for a sense of helplessness to settle on Ippo’s conscience, wishing he could do all of this by himself. He shook off the self-deprecating thoughts and went to go inform his mom on what was going on.

Jun’s workout wasn’t going well because she was in a hurry, causing way too many do-overs. She had to cut her roadwork short because of it, and cursed the whole way. By the time she got back to the house, it was 4:40.

Ippo had pulled through and patted at a loaded cooler in the kitchen. “There’s even some fresh fish leftover from the last catch!”

“Nice!” Jun gave a thumbs up while she dropped off her bag. She washed up, changed into clean binding and clothes, all while being careful to hide away the sweaty bandages, and this time, she brought a set of sharpening stones. They both left just after 5:00, and Ippo offered to carry the cooler the whole way. Halfway there, they ended up sharing the load strap at the joints and running with it on tempo. When they arrived at the Mashiba residence, they were both on the winded side and temporarily took off their coats.

“At least… we made it… with time to spare...” Jun caught her breath while they waited at the top of the steps.

“I really wasn’t expecting to be meeting her again so soon like this...” Ippo confided, wiping sweat from his brow.

“I don’t think she was, either.” Jun looked up and down the street.

Jun’s concern was contagious. “You don’t suppose it had anything to do with the amusement park on our d— uh, outing, do you?” Ippo furrowed his brow in guilt.

“No, it’s probably just bad timing. She does work at a hospital, after all.” Jun leaned on the concrete stairwell barrier.

Ippo didn’t want to think about Kumi’s exposure to germs on a daily basis. “I guess it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty of free time now, in case I get sick.”

Jun looked at him disparagingly. “Lucky you?” He cringed at the reminder of why he did have free time. “Anyway, thanks for helping me out, and helping Kumi-san out, too.” Jun patted his shoulder.

“I-I’m not doing much here, really...” Ippo looked away.

“You’re going to be my lookout for her brother.” She said in such a blunt way that Ippo flinched.

“Ohhh… R-right...”

She gave two more solid taps on his shoulder. “Hey! I think I see her!” She pointed down the end of the street.

In the distance, a small figure in a nurse outfit slowly ambled down the sidewalk. When she got close enough for visual confirmation, Jun waved at her. Kumi noticed after a few seconds and perked up. She waved back, and started walking a little faster. They cleared the stairs for her, which she was heavily relying on the barrier to help her along.

“Hello, Tagawa-san! … Makunouchi-san...” She gave a small flutter of her eyelashes between their names.

“H-hi, again, K-Kumi-san...” Ippo flushed a bit.

“Good evening, Kumi-san! Dinner will be ready shortly!” Jun slapped at the cooler playfully.

“Oh… I’m sorry to have kept you waiting...” She fumbled with the keys at the door.

“Don’t worry about us, we just got here!” Jun followed her in while Ippo picked up the cooler.

“Normally, I don’t ask for help, but… uhmm… oh...” She briefly paused in the doorway hall.

Jun had a bad feeling about her body language. “Kumi-san?”

Her legs briefly trembled before her shoulder landed on the wall as her purse and lunch bag fell out of her hands.

“WHOA!” Jun darted forward to catch her before she could slide down to the floor.

Ippo nearly dropped the cooler himself in shock. “Kumi-san!!”

Jun walked her into the living room. “Easy now… Let’s sit you down over here, okay?” She eased her down to sit next to the table.

“I’m fine, really...” Kumi stated unconvincingly. “I’m… just tired, that’s all.”

“Hey Ippo, can you go get her a glass of water?”

“Yes, of course!” He nodded vehemently as he set the cooler down and went back to shut the door before heading to the kitchen.

Jun turned back to Kumi. “Your eyes are focused, so that’s good… Kumi-san, could you do this for me?” Jun pulled down her lower eyelid in demonstration.

Kumi looked befuddled. “Um, okay...” The blood vessels under her eyelid were visible, but it looked more pale than Jun cared for.

“I was just curious to see if you were anemic.” She gave a mild shrug.

“I’m surprised you would think to check for that...” Kumi dipped her chin in coy embarrassment.

Jun whispered while Ippo was filling a glass in the kitchen. “It happened a lot with my mom, and I was sent on pad and tampon missions to the store, so I’m used to this kind of thing.”

When Jun mentioned those key words, Kumi’s face wilted with realization. “I forgot..!” She whispered.

“Here’s some water, Kumi-san!” Ippo interjected, nearly sloshing the glass.

Jun knew all too well what was going on, but her recent brushes with the Red Devil colored her perception to make the situation feel more urgent than necessary. With a worried look and her eyes darting towards the hallway, Jun stammered out an excuse. “Uhhh… hold-hold on, I’m going to go check the… uh… medicine cabinet, for ummm… medicine?” Jun ended with an unsure look and shrug at Kumi, desperately hoping that she could get the veiled message across.

Kumi’s eyes also darted down the hall, and she nodded, maintaining eye contact. “Yes, please check for me...” She emphasized her words.

Jun glanced at Ippo for a brief second to read his body language.

“Maybe a cold compress?” He suggested.

Jun nodded and zipped off to the bathroom, closing the door. She scoured the entire bathroom, and all she could find was a box with a single tampon in it and a package of pads that looked full, but was just an empty box. As for medicine, she couldn’t find any menstrual pain medication, but the drawers were stocked full of gauze, medical tape, adhesive bandages, sterilizing wipes, and antibiotic salve.

 _Let me guess, all this real estate is for a certain brother…_ Jun was rather pissed that Kumi’s needs had taken a back seat like this. She calmed herself down, remembering that it’s easy to forget to restock.

 _Especially when you haven’t had one in months…_ She rolled her eyes at herself in the mirror. Her thoughts raced as she ran a washcloth under running water. _Okay, I can’t leave her like this. Ippo’s clueless, and I doubt she’s going to have any energy to get this stuff herself. She’s also probably the one who takes care of that part of the shopping… right?_ Ryo’s previous sentiment about not doing ‘women’s work’ rang through her head. The thought of Ryo standing at the store checkout holding a 32-count package of pads with a deathly expression made Jun struggle to not laugh. She took a deep breath and tried to relax into a poker face. With a brief rundown about what to say and a check inside her waist wallet, she hurried back out of the bathroom.

“Sorry, I couldn’t find ANYTHING else...” Jun shook her head while handing the washcloth to Kumi. “I’m going to run out and get you, uh, restocked.”

Ippo couldn’t understand why there was such a need for Jun to rush out. “W-wait, I thought we were supposed to make dinner? Wouldn’t that help…?” The thought of the shrinking window before Ryo’s arrival made him nervous.

Jun clapped her hands onto Ippo’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. “You stay here and watch over Kumi-san for me. I’ll be right back.”

Jun made a break for it before Ippo could protest. She was nearly out the door when Kumi called out. “There’s a pharmacy a couple of blocks down from here, left on E Street!”

Jun stopped long enough to be grateful for the directions and gave her a salute. “Thanks!”

She hopped to the middle step of the stairs and onto the ground running. She hadn’t bothered putting her coat back on when she left, but it was going to be for the best. She was at the pharmacy within minutes, and stocked up on the items that she recognized from the discarded packaging in the cabinets. When the sweat-riddled Jun dropped the sanitary products and PMS pills on the counter, the guy at the register raised an eyebrow. Jun looked over, and yanked a chocolate bar down from the display and onto the counter. “DON’T ASK.”

The guy raised both eyebrows and rang up the order. It ate up everything she had in her wallet, but she didn’t care. Once the transaction was made and the items bagged, she snatched it up and ran back outside. In her hurry, Jun took the corner back onto Kumi’s street too fast and fell hard. In one fluid motion, she used the momentum to get herself right back up and running again. All she cared was that the bag had remained intact. Once she got up the stairs, she fished the pills out of the bag and hid the rest behind her back. Upon opening the door, she saw Kumi still at the table, halfway done with the glass of water. She could hear Ippo working in the kitchen.

“I got you some medicine!” She called out upon entering, pulling the bag out long enough for Kumi to see. Unfortunately, she didn’t even notice.

“Tagawa-san, you’re bleeding!”

Jun halted, her gaze pulled down to the itchy spots on her knees. The tumble had scraped holes into her pants, and there was still dirt and gravel particles embedded in the raw flesh.

“Oh, y-yeah, I fell on the way back. Sorry...” Jun tried not to bleed on the floor as she made her way over, keeping her back to Kumi. Ippo had peered out from the kitchen doorway.

“Tagawa-san, are you okay?!” He grimaced at the damage.

“I’m good, I just need to patch up and I can get to work.” She sidled towards the hallway, but Kumi got up and put her hand on Jun’s back.

“Let me take care of it. I want to make sure it won’t get infected.”

“But, you need to rest, Kumi-san!” Jun protested.

She grasped the bag from behind Jun. “It’s okay, I’ve gotten some of my strength back. Besides, I’m a nurse. I’m used to this kind of thing...” Kumi pulled the bag behind her own back and nudged Jun in the direction of the bathroom. She conceded, and once in, Kumi gently shut the door.

Jun sat on the bathtub edge while Kumi opened the bag. After a curious pause, she pulled the chocolate bar out with a facetious look. Jun could only shrug and grin. Kumi put it back in the bag and tied it up, tucking it in the cabinet.

“You didn’t have to go to such trouble for me...” She started pulling out the medical items from the drawer.

“I didn’t want to leave without trying to help.” Jun started picking some of the grit from her hand, which was also scraped up, but not profusely bleeding.

“But it’s so embarrassing...” Kumi didn’t want to look Jun in the eye as she moved the dressings next to Jun.

“THAT was not embarrassing. I’ve had to run home and smuggle in pads and Mom’s clean underwear into the grocery store. THAT was embarrassing.” Jun distastefully recalled that occasion. “I was only ten years old at the time, too. She gave me ‘the talk’ on the way back home.”

Kumi opened up a packet of sterilizing wipes, feeling sorry for Jun. “Oh, wow, you poor boy...”

She knelt down for a better vantage point, and went to go pull up Jun’s pant leg.

“Wait, wait—!” Jun panicked. She wasn’t expecting to have her body closely examined that afternoon. Kumi briskly pulled the pant leg up and over the wound, revealing Jun’s well toned and impressively unshaven calf. She tried to not be embarrassed about it, since it was part of the disguise, but there was still the ingrained social norm tugging at her guts. Kumi was solely focused on treating the wound, and she did it deftly with only minor hissing from Jun, reacting to the rubbing alcohol. Jun heard a slight creak by the door when Kumi went to tend to the smaller wound on the other knee.

“Hold on a second...” Jun gave a warning before yelling towards the door. “It’s open!”

There was a few seconds delay before the door pulled open just enough for Ippo to peek in. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m in the hands of a pro, so yeah, so far so good.” Jun gave a thumbs up while Kumi finished patching the knee.

“I… I set everything out, so it’s ready when you are.” Ippo watched Kumi’s intense focus on cleaning up the scrape on Jun’s hand.

“Thanks!” Jun smiled as Ippo made one last visual check before closing the door.

Kumi pulled Jun’s face forward to meet her eyes. Jun was taken aback by her intensity, wondering if she had said something wrong. Instead, Kumi tilted Jun’s face slightly upward and started wiping at the scrape on Jun’s chin. She was seriously hoping Kumi wouldn’t notice the lack of an adam’s apple and refrained from nervously swallowing. Kumi put the bandage on and released from her intense look back to her usual adorable self.

“There! All done!”

Jun gave a goofy grin and added extra cheese to her words. “Thanks, Nurse Kumi! You earned your chocolate today!”

Kumi shook her head, sighed, and smiled. “Only after dinner.”

Jun left the bathroom and got to work while Kumi tended to her own personal problem. In an act of vengeance, Jun pulled out the sharpening stones and turned the infuriatingly dull knife into a hair-splitting masterpiece. While dinner was being prepared, the three of them chatted about boxing, what had happened since they were last together, Kumi’s work stories, and her fast approaching birthday. Within the hour and a half of their conversation, Jun finished making the onigiri and miso soup. She had made a dozen onigiri, and both she and Ippo took one per Kumi’s demand before packing up the cooler and heading home.

“Thanks for bringing me along, Tagawa-san. Aside from your injuries and Kumi-san’s exhaustion, that was fun and you made delicious food!” Ippo smiled genuinely.

Jun gave a satisfied laugh. “Glad you had a good time!”

Ippo turned serious for a moment. “I do feel bad for Kumi-san. I never realized how difficult it could be for her, to nearly pass out like that.” His thoughts turned to his mom, and her own past battle with overexertion.

“Well, you helped me when I needed it most, so I’m trying to do the same for others.” Jun hiked up her side of the cooler. “When I heard what kind of hours she pulls, I felt like I needed to do something.” Her words added to the sting of his memories. “Do I… help you out, Ippo?”

He couldn’t figure out why Jun would ask such a thing when the answer seemed blatantly obvious. “Of course you do, Tagawa-san! You help with the boating business, I can talk about boxing all I want when you’re around, and… well…” Ippo rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out how to best put his feelings to words. “Y-you’ve helped me… get closer to Kumi-san, without being mean about it.”

Jun gave out an assenting humph with a nod. She took her own moment to think about her words.

“I’m glad. I don’t want to sound weird, but… these past months living at your house has felt like I’ve been given a second chance at having a family, and you’re like the brother I missed out on.”

Ippo was touched, and had bittersweet emotions about the sentiment. “That doesn’t sound weird, Tagawa-kun...” Ippo paused, giving time for a transition to levity. “… You just behave weirdly, sometimes!”

Jun laughed out loud. “All the time!” Her laughter dwindled down. “Still, as much as I appreciate you two letting me live at your house and work… unfortunately, I’ll have to move out at some point soon. I can’t keep using your living room as my bedroom. I’m sorry, Ippo.”

He looked at her with sad, knowing eyes, and wistfully nodded. “It’s okay, Tagawa-kun. Mom and I were glad to see you get healthy, and you’ve more than earned your keep. Just let us know when you’re ready, and we’ll give you a proper send-off!”

“I am definitely not ready just yet!” Jun chuckled. “But it’s a relief that you understand. I don’t know when it’s going to happen, but I can say that it’ll probably be before summer arrives.”

Ippo looked to the ground. “That soon?”

Jun solemnly nodded. “Yeah. Things are going to suck, badly, in the next few months.”

“You never know that, though. You can always come to visit anytime you like!” Ippo tried to be positive, but Jun knew what she meant behind her words.

“We’ll just have to see what happens.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • I wasn’t sure if I wanted to use the term “tama ni kizu/flaw in the gemstone” literally or the similar term “fly in the ointment.”  
>  • Concerning the part where Ryo (in the anime) snatches up the phone from Kumi to tell Ippo he’s a loser for calling up girls; if Jun were eavesdropping, she would have snatched the phone from Ippo and put Ryo in his place by stating that Ippo couldn’t be in the wrong when the phone RANG on his end. She also would have hijacked the call completely, so let’s not have that happen.  
>  • Originally, I forgot why I put in the whole bit with Kumi dealing with PMS/period from hell, but it DOES happen like that sometimes. Yes, I wanted some jokes to come out from Jun’s unusual behavior, but I also wanted the idea of having Jun, being seen as a man, mind you, treat Kumi like a human being rather than as an icky joke being the catalyst for Kumi shifting her romantic focus away from Ippo.  
>  • Yeah, Jun nearly blows her cover in a "I GOT U, FAM!" moment, and let's face it, Kumi needs some (non-sexual) TLC.


	12. CHOKING ROOTS

A blusterous rain pattered at the front of the building. It was another stressful sleep for Jun, and she woke up half an hour before Hiroko’s alarm. She decided to get cleaned up and dressed early, and was putting on the kettle when the alarm went off. Slippers shuffled up the hallway and paused at the pleasant surprise of coffee already being prepared.

“Good morning!” Jun nodded a bow before getting her own mug.

Hiroko finished her yawn before responding. “Good morning, Tagawa-kun! I didn’t even hear you get up.”

“Yesterday was a busy day, and it’s pouring outside, so I don’t blame you.”

Hiroko stretched her arms above her head before leaning on the counter. “With spring, comes the warmer weather fishermen. The schedule is going to be everywhere in the next few months.” She rolled her neck for a couple of self-satisfying cricks before continuing. “But, you learn to roll with the waves.”

Jun raised an eyebrow. “I see, so you roll with the waves, and let Ippo roll with the punches.”

Hiroko smiled. “Whichever, or both. Oh, Ippo… He’s still so bored, though. Maybe the spring fever is making his hiatus worse.”

“I’m getting the itch, myself...” Jun rubbed her arm, looking toward the door.

“You’re so used to moving around, aren’t you?” Hiroko asked, and Jun hesitantly nodded. Hiroko shook her head gently. “It must be quite something, living a nomadic lifestyle.”

Jun looked to the floor. “It has its perks, like seeing something new every day, and you don’t have to pay bills...” Jun smiled briefly. “But it has its downsides, too. Weather like this, days that are more uncertain than others… Sometimes, you simply find an oasis that you loathe to pull away from.” Jun’s inner turmoil flinched at her double meaning.

Hiroko humphed, thinking back to her own youth. “I was a bit aimless myself when I was younger. I didn’t really have any plans after high school, and I thought that maybe I could be a tour guide or a teacher, or even a flight attendant.” They both gave a laugh at that last one. “Instead, I hopped from place to place as a waitress, hating it every time. There was one truly awful job that had wretched hours and sketchy customers. Just when I thought I was going to quit, a strapping young man had stopped in for lunch, and he gave me a much needed laugh while chatting that day. I stuck with the job for a little while longer, and the man kept coming back, telling me stories and talking about his dreams… and, on occasion, beating up harassers. He was the brightest part of my day. Then he stopped coming for a while, and I almost gave up again when one rainy night, he came in at closing time and got down on one knee...” Hiroko looked up with misty eyes toward the bust and photo of Kazuo.

The kettle started to whistle, and Hiroko poured the water for both mugs. “He had such a passion for fishing and a strong desire to have his very own boat. Of course, he indulged in other … passionate desires as well, and Ippo came along.” She slowly stirred her coffee, lost in memories. “We carried his dream together, the three of us.”

There was a long moment of silence as Hiroko sifted through her past, fighting back the tears. Jun broke the spell when she pulled the tea strainer from her mug.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble on like that and trail off. Sometimes, the rainy weather makes me reminisce...”

“It’s okay, Captain. I use memories of better times to get me through rough patches, too.” Jun took a small sip of her tea.

Hiroko took her own sip of coffee. “I wouldn’t exactly call these rough times. Things have been pretty tame by my standards.”

Jun gently swirled her mug. “Wish I could borrow your standards for a while, then. Your business experience wouldn’t hurt, either.” After taking her sip, a thought occurred to her. “How did you two go about starting the business anyway? Do you have any advice?”

Hiroko mulled over her words. “I would say to do your research and start small as well as cheap. Not to say that the fishing boat was either of those, but Kazuo had fishing experience and read every business book he could find,” she rested her chin in her hand.

“All I’m looking for is something that will let me afford a studio, maybe something that won’t eat up so much of my time and energy.”

Hiroko nearly choked on her coffee laughing. “You should know by now that owning a business IS your time and energy. Maybe you could find something that lets you practice your hobbies in a business setting, like working at a magazine or an ad agency.”

“Perhaps, but I think I would need a better portfolio. Magazines usually want people with years of experience to work with, and I still have a lot to learn.”

Hiroko sighed. “That you do, and through your own mistakes is the best way to learn. I don’t know what else to say, Tagawa-kun, other than finding a rich heiress and marrying her instead...” She giggled.

Jun laughed dismissively, shaking her head. “Sorry, but I’d rather get where I need to go on my own merit.”

Hiroko tilted her head. “You don’t have to do it alone, though. It could help a lot to ask other people you know if they have any connections. You never know when a friend knows a friend who can pull some strings...”

Jun conceded, nodding her head. “Huh. You have a good point there. I’ll think about it some more. Thank you so much for your help, Captain!” She gave a salute, and Hiroko raised her mug in reciprocation.

When she had a moment alone at the phone that morning, Jun dug out the number of the records department in Sendai she jotted down at a recent library visit. She forced herself to dial the number. The anxiety cinched around her stomach as the phone rang on the other end. When a voice answered and asked for a name, Jun hung up. The urge to run away rapped at the back of her brain and tugged at her heart.

 _I can’t risk letting that horrible woman find out where I am! Never! Never…_ The weight of everything she risked losing hung heavy in her mind. _…But I can’t keep this up. Someday, my luck will run out, and she’s going to get a call from some hospital or police station. Why not just beat fate to the punch?_ After eyeing the closet containing her camping gear, she closed her eyes. _It’s not just a fear for my own safety anymore. I don’t want her anywhere near the people I now care about. I don’t want her ruining everything. I swear, if I have to start all over again, I’m doing it without giving you the satisfaction of winning, Tagawa Mizuno…_

Laying in bed, Jun idly massaged the sore breast that got hit during a spar. It had nearly made her black out that afternoon. _Shit, that fucking hurt. The one and only hit he managed to get in, and it was a bad one._ Thanks to the increased stress of time running out, she was putting more energy into lifting weights and strengthening her upper body for better punches, as well as sparring with the other gym members in her weight bracket. The downside to this was that she was hungry all the time and it was a struggle to keep from gaining too much weight. _I’m already too big in the chest now. The last thing I need is another round of stretch marks, but I have to admit… it’s addictive, trying to become stronger._ She flexed her hand and arm in the darkness of the living room, illuminated by the nightlight. Feeling restless, she carefully got out of bed and went over to the shelf with the photo albums underneath. Hiroko had given her one to put her photos in, and Jun pulled it out and paged through it under the kitchen nightlight. There was even an early photo that Umezawa had taken of her around the time she first arrived. _Wow, I really have changed a lot in a short amount of time._ She found the page she was looking for, the one with photos from Ryo’s party. She traced her finger down his battered face and onto his chest. Seeing the belt slung over his shoulder for the photo reminded her of how happy she was for him, and her words echoed in her mind. Her eyes glazed over. _‘You’re awesome’ … ‘I’m so proud of you’ … I want to earn those words, too._ She closed the album and returned it back to its spot. Crawling back into bed, there was one last thought before she started to drift off to sleep. _I really wish I had a better photo of you, Ryo._

She had a dream where she was on the boat, and everyone was facing outward, fishing. The boat was sloshing gently back and forth with the waves. People were chatting and laughing, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. At a lonely corner, she saw Ryo, fishing by himself, wearing only sweatpants that hung low on his hips. She wandered over, telling him that she can teach him how to fish better. Her arms wrapped around him from behind, running her hands first up his chest, then down his abs and into his pants. While she was groping around for a hard on, the boat’s rocking got much worse. She tried to ignore it, but a wave crested over the side of the boat, knocking her back. Everyone else was still in their place like glued-down chess pieces. A storm had blown in and the boat rocked harder, taking on more water. She sloshed back to the corner, nearly going overboard. All she could do was grab Ryo’s arm and call out for help, but no sound escaped her mouth. He didn’t move, didn’t even try to help her. His face was like an incomplete carving, or a blurred photo. When the next wave knocked her overboard, something was pulling her down into the crimson depths. It wrapped around her tight like twine tentacles, squeezing the air out of her lungs. She sank like a stone into a coral reef made of giant broken bottles and hit bottom. At a distance in front of her, there was a woman, unaffected by the water, save for her hair wafting in the current and bandages streaming away with each sway. Jun felt like she was still on the boat, with the pressure pulling her back and forth. She tried to call out, but only bubbles fluttered from her mouth. At first, Jun thought it was the Kindled Woman in front of her, come to life, but when the woman turned to glare at her, she realized it was Kumi. As the twine wrapped around her neck, she tried one last time to call out, but nothing could be said. The pull of the tide was rocking her brain. Kumi spoke, clear as day to her.

“You are a LIAR.” In a split second, Kumi went from being a distant figure to a raging colossus of a woman right in front of her, squashing Jun inside of her fist. “YOU ARE A LIAR, JUNKO!”

Jun woke up with a gasp, wrapped up tightly in her blanket. The waves had not left with the dream, and she was beading cold sweat. A weighted pain crushed her insides, and the nausea was too much. She ran to the bathroom to throw up. When it finally stopped, she splashed her face and gulped down some water from the sink. Panting heavily while staring at herself in the mirror, her emotions flared up. She yanked the hand towel from the rack and wiped her face, but kept it there to muffle all of the rude yelling. Some of her thoughts manifested out loud.

“I am NOT a liar! This is who I am! This is who I need to be! … right?”

She took a moment to catch her breath and calm down. _Goddammit! … Okay, so I am perpetuating a false identity, but I WILL come out soon, I swear! I will come clean!_

She stared deep into her own seething eyes in the mirror. _But… I’m happier like this?_

Her teeth gritted and let out a snarl from behind the hand towel. The entire time barely growing up from a rail thin girl into a rail thin bitch, people ignored her at best and beat her bloody and ostracized her at worst. Now that people thought she was a man, she was getting breaks in life. Smiles. She had a warm house with people who cared about her. A boxing gym that encouraged her to keep improving. Three meals a day with minimal guilt. Clean clothes. A soft bed. She felt like she was finally home…

“But this isn’t mine.” She clenched at the towel. “… Who AM I?!” She slammed the towel onto the sink counter and hissed out a deep breath. “[Boku wa Tagawa Jun desu yo! Boku ...w-wa… ]” Her arms shook from shame and anger. She forced herself to change the wording. “[Watashi wa...Tagawa Junko...]”

It felt like soap in her mouth to use the feminine way to describe herself. For years, she had used masculine speech, partly as a disarming tactic during her delinquency days and turned into a survival tactic when she started roaming the cities. Trying to undo this habit would prove to be the most difficult. She didn’t want to let go of this security blanket just yet. “… Nevermind.”

Jun hung up the towel and did a quick underwear check; nothing. Her insides still felt like they were wrapping around a spiked ball, but she couldn’t do much about it except take another drink of water to chase down some aspirin. She exited the bathroom, but before she turned out the light, a shadowy figure in the hallway made her flinch.

Hiroko was standing there, bleary eyed and holding her robe closed. “Are you okay, Tagawa-kun? It sounded like you were sick...”

The cold sweat threatened to bead on her forehead again. “Yeah, I just had a nightmare … I dreamt that the boat capsized, and it was my fault…”

Hiroko closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh no, please don’t blame yourself for that.”

Jun looked at her, not sure if she should correct her or not. She looked down at the floor, wondering how many times both Hiroko and Ippo were told that same sentiment.

She blinked a few times, and then the realization set in. “Oh, right. You mean...” Hiroko twirled her finger in the air, trying to conjure up the words to indicate the separation between her husband’s boat and the one he died on.

Jun let out a breath and weakly smiled. “It’s okay. You can go back to bed.”

Hiroko nodded and shuffled back down the hallway. Jun had checked the clock before going back to bed herself; it was only 1AM.

Going to the gym that afternoon proved she had some rage to burn off. Angry grunts spaced her punches to the heavy bag. It swung to and fro, shifting her feet fast around to make it swing harder. One would think that she was training to fight against a particularly bloodthirsty opponent, but the fire that burned brightly in her eyes was from a livid unfairness at having no more access to that awesome cake Kumi made over a month ago. She stopped the bag when an impressed whistle blew her way.

“You really have the makings of an outboxer!” Kimura stated while approaching her. “With a little more polish, I’d say we’ll be hearing an answer from you soon!” He slapped her shoulder, and she felt liquid shift between her legs where there shouldn’t be any. She kept stone faced with the realization that her interrupted sleep schedule made her forget to preemptively put in a pad. Her mind raced on two different tracks.

“I still need to figure a few things out, though...” She pulled the gloves off. When she saw the other two starting to take notice, she cut things off then and there. “I’m going to do roadwork.” She stormed off to grab her bag from her locker. When she came back out, the group was gathered together.

“Hey, why don’t we join you?” Aoki chirped.

Jun glared at them with the same kind of raw natural warning you would get from a puffed up skunk. She gave a low, calm, and ominous declaration. “LEAVE ME ALONE.” The door slammed on her way out before they could reply.

Aoki gave a confused look. “Wow, what’s got under his skin?”

Takamura had his arms crossed and gave a serious look to an imaginary horizon. “The decision to become a professional boxer is not one to take lightly. You have to make sacrifices you never thought about before, like meals and social outings. It’s probably starting to sink in just how much boxing will affect his livelihood.”

Aoki and Kimura nodded in compliance. “Plus, he has to deal with Ippo at the house while he’s on hiatus. It’s like having a constant reminder,” Kimura pointed out.

Aoki nodded, then shook his head. “Yeah, living with your competition has got to be hell.”

A solemn silence hung in the air. Takamura’s hand grasped Aoki’s head like a bowling ball.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Aoki broke out in a sweat. “Ah, uhhh, y’know, a fellow boxer..??”

Takamura squeezed him like an empty juice box. “ARE YOU TELLING ME HE’S SWITCHING GYMS TO FIGHT AS A FEATHERWEIGHT?”

“No, no! It’s uh...” Aoki contorted his face in search of an excuse. He held up a single finger to his lips. “It’s a secret.”

The big ape worked him over in short order. Once again, Aoki spilled the tea about Tagawa-san’s dinner favor. Takamura didn’t quite get it.

“You’ve already told us that before!” He bopped Aoki behind the ear.

“Not the kare-raisu thing, you idiot! It happened again! Apparently, Jun is quite the gentleman...” Aoki flinched at that last sentence. _Shit! Just shut it, already!_

Takamura leaned in close with an unhinged calmness, his grip tightening at Aoki’s shirt collar. “Really. What did the fine gentleman Himomame-sama do?”

Kimura squeezed Aoki’s shoulder. “You have to let us know, for Ippo’s sake.”

Aoki rubbed the back of his head, giving a pained grin. “Well, he brought Ippo along, but Jun... ah… y’know...”

They both squeezed a little harder. “No, we DON’T know.” Kimura said coldly.

Aoki looked to the ceiling, having given up. “Wow, this is going to be embarrassing for him. Tagawa went to get Kumi some… lady stuff.”

Takamura cocked his eyebrows. “Lady stuff? You mean she was up the red river or something?”

Aoki nodded.

Takamura snarled. “Why would she have HIM do that!?”

“She didn’t even tell him, he just… figured it out!”

“What the hell? How could he have sniffed out—”

Takamura’s interesting choice of words became a catalyst. The implication of a secret oral rendezvous hit everyone like a bullet train at the same time. They all ran to the door and looked around outside. Jun was nowhere in sight.

Takamura beaned Aoki over the head once more. “HE GOT AWAY BECAUSE OF YOU!”

“He just said he was doing roadwork!! What did you think would happen!?”

They went back inside, still squabbling.

Jun had bolted down the road as fast as she could with nearly thirty pounds of weight on her back. Thanks to her efforts of scouting the local layout during previous roadwork trips, she knew where to find the nearest place with a public, single-stall bathroom. She skidded to a halt at a niche bookstore independently run by an elderly couple with their pet cat as a mascot. She went inside, covered in sweat, but grinning cheerily for manners’ sake.

“Good afternoon, Ebihara-san! Hey there, Raki-chan!” She waved quickly at the old man behind the counter, and took just enough time to give the gregarious cat a few pets before walking quickly to the back of the bookstore to the bathroom. Locking the door, she whipped her pants down to her knees. A huge streak was painted with bold strokes across her Y-fronts. A patron nearly dropped his book as Jun’s vulgar exclamation sounded beyond the door. “YOU COCKSUCKER…!”

She angrily checked the outside of her pants. It was sweaty, but otherwise free of a bloody tell. She breathed a sigh of relief. _It must have just started. I didn’t even notice at the heavy bag, I was so focused._ She zeroed in on the pockets of her backpack and pulled out a pad, a tampon, and a clean pair of underwear sealed in a zippered plastic bag. _I came prepared this time, you bastard!_

She changed quickly, sealed the dirty pair in the bag, and tucked it in an inner backpack pocket before washing up. The patron gave her a quizzical look when she left the bathroom. She just shrugged and gave a vague excuse. “Blisters suck.”

On her way out, she made some magazine purchases as an act of gratitude. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, she put away the magazines and plucked a rock outside to put in her bag before taking off.

The entire circuit back around to Ippo’s house was a slog, and she was ready to clock out and knock out. However, she knew she couldn’t do that. She had to pretend that everything was fine. The sun was starting to set on the horizon and the air was cooling down. She prayed that her luck would be in and that the boat would be out. Before she could get down the block, she saw fishermen jawing about their catches. _Dammit,_ she fumed. Ippo and Umezawa were finishing their scrub of the boat as Hiroko took her log book and tackle box inside. After some inquisitive banter, she left them to their duties and proceeded with the secretive task of laundering her stained underwear.

Jun took careful measures clearing out her backpack and waist wallet to launder as well. She had just pre-treated the underwear and was throwing the rest of the contents of her hamper in the wash when Ippo popped in the doorway.

“Hey Tagawa-san, if you’re doing the laundry, can I put some of mine in there, too?”

She did her best to hide her panicked flinch, playing it cool while she maneuvered the other clothes on top of her underwear inside the washer. “Sure thing. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

He left the doorway, and Jun quickly dumped her stash of gross bindings under the laundry and measured out the detergent. Ippo walked back in with a bundle of work clothes and set it in the washer. She had moved out of the way, watching him toss everything in, save for a set of clean clothes he was holding under his pile.

“Sorry about the rush, but I wanted to catch the rerun of last Saturday’s fight.” He pulled his work shirt over his head and threw it in, Jun’s eyes widening.

 _Keep the pants on, keep the pants on…_ He pulled his brine soaked trousers off too, and tossed it in. Jun stared at his physique, eye twitching. _KEEP THE UNDERWEAR ON, KEEP THE UNDERWEAR ON!! (Look away, you dumbass!)_

When Ippo stepped into his slouch pants, she closed her eyes in exasperated relief. “You could’ve just jumped in and saved yourself a bath, too,” she dryly quipped.

He laughed, put his shirt on, and left with a wave. “Thanks, Tagawa-san!”

She set the filled detergent cap down for a moment and shook her head. _Ippo, either you’re thick as a brick, or I still pass amazingly well as a guy. Possibly both._

While the machine was rhythmically sloshing under the lid, Jun dumped out her bag of wooden medallions onto the folding counter. She flipped them all facing up, rather happy that her progress was nearly done. She finished up the half done ones by the time the dryer was finished. The only medallions left to make were for Kumi and Ryo, and when she pulled her waist wallet belt from the dryer, she tucked the two medallions intended for them into the coin pocket.

After folding up his clothes and putting them in his room, Jun came out to inform Ippo.

“Thanks a lot, Tagawa-san!” He stopped to smile at her.

“No problem. By the way, I got most of my medallions finished. Want to see them?” She held up the bag and motioned to the kitchen counter, where Umezawa had his attention perked.

She carefully dumped the bag, where even Hiroko peeked over to see the handiwork. Ippo was blown away by the detail, and Umezawa was impressed with the accuracy.

“Wow! You even got coach and Yagi-chan!” Ippo held one up, turning it in his fingers.

“Heh-hey! There’s Ippo!” Umezawa pointed to one that was hiding under the others.

“Awww! You did a good job, Tagawa-kun!” Hiroko smiled as Umezawa held it up for her to see.

Jun blushed a little. “Heh! Thanks.” She snapped her fingers. “Right! There was one more, but I decided it wasn’t for me to keep...” She left and came back with a medallion, handing it over to Ippo. “I figured I’d make one of him, since he used to be a part of the Kamogawa team, but I don’t know him personally. I just happened to find one of his photos in a boxing magazine.”

Ippo felt an emotional twang ring through his heart. Dropped into his palm was a carving of Miyata.

“Did you want to keep that one, Ippo?”

He gasped, eyes sparkling. “Y-you mean… This one’s mine?!”

She nodded. “It is now. Just don’t tell the other guys about this, or they’ll never stop giving you hell about it.” She bopped him on the shoulder, but he didn’t take notice.

“T-thank you so much, Tagawa-san!!” He couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Aw, so there isn’t one of you in here, Tagawa?” Umezawa poked through the collection once more to make sure.

Jun thought that was an incredulous statement. “No, of course not! These are for my tent. I don’t need to look at a carving of my own face!”

“But you’re part of the Kamogawa team, too! Don’t you want a complete set?” Umezawa said teasingly.

Jun started putting the medallions back in the bag. “I mean, I could make one for that purpose, but I would prefer to give it away than keep it.” She cinched up the drawstrings. “But giving away my portrait as a gift seems tacky, so I don’t know.”

Hiroko piped up. “I’ll take it! I know exactly where to put it.” They all looked at her in surprise. She turned with eyes closed and a cute smile.

Jun decided to go with it, whatever it may be. “Heh! Okay, Boss, I’ll make one for you!”

The next day she brought the medallions with her, putting the pouch in one of the inner pockets of her backpack. For now, her camera case was taking up the area where the rocks usually sat on top of the towel-wrapped weights. The moment she stepped in the gym, a red flag set off in her head. All three of the guys swiveled their heads as if a car alarm was going off and stared at her. She switched over her nameplate, side-eyeing them as they approached.

 _For fuck’s sake…_ She ducked into the locker room and waited for them to come in. When they opened the door, they were met with a low scowl staring a hole through them. “What do you want,” she said curtly.

Takamura’s lips curled up into a sadistic smile. “Himomame-kun! That’s no way to greet your senpai!”

They encircled her like hyenas around a wounded lion cub. She was not having any of their shit.

“Cut the crap. You guys only do this when I’ve done something stupid or you hear rumors about me doing something stupid, so spill it already. What did I do NOW?”

“Why don’t you tell us, instead?” Kimura smirked with intense curiosity.

Jun pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a sigh. “Was it the nasty shit I had to take at the bookstore and left the whole place reeking?”

The group looked at each other, then back at her. “No...” Kimura said slowly.

She scratched her head, thinking about how to phrase the most recent past events. “Was it… Ippo telling about how I’m looking for another job?”

Aoki and Kimura raised their eyebrows. “You’re going to quit?” Aoki wondered before Takamura jabbed an elbow in his ribs.

“Well, not right now, but I do need to get more money coming in if I want to afford my own place...”

Kimura sat up. “You’re moving out?”

“Well, not RIGHT NOW, but—”

Takamura yelled at all of them. “SHUT IT, ALREADY! WE WANT TO KNOW IF YOU ATE OUT IPPO’S GIRL OR NOT!”

Jun was aghast. “W-WHAT?!? I – NO! What gave you that ludicrous idea?!” She became angry. “Who’s TONGUE do I have to cut out for spreading lies about me?” She glared at each of them, stopping at Aoki’s profusely sweating face. “YOU!” She spat the word at him, ready to bloody his nose. He tried to play it cool.

“Take it easy, Tagawa! No one’s saying that about you! We were just curious about the, uh...”

Kimura finished for him. “The tampon thing.”

The steam left her kettle. “… The what now?”

Aoki continued. “Tomiko told me that you, uh, helped Kumi-san out by getting her some … lady things.”

Jun shifted to a calm neutral state, setting everyone else off balance. “Oh. That. What about it?”

Takamura put an arm around her, which immediately pissed her off again. He put a thumb to his tongue and closed one eye to drive home his point. “So are you going to tell us how you found out about her situation?”

She slipped out from under his arm. “Sure. Last week, Kumi used that coupon I gave her— you know, the favor coupon for a free dinner whenever work’s killing her? She sounded tired on the phone, and I promised Ippo I would take him with me if I ever get another call like that, so he helped me bring over the ingredients in a cooler. She steps in the door and –” Jun slapped her hands together for emphasis. “BAM! She hits the wall and starts sliding down. I catch her and sit her down at the table while Ippo gets her water. I ask her a couple of questions, and she lets slip that she’s out of pads and tampons and shit, so I get her refills. I came back, made dinner, and we left. Now, keep in mind, Ippo’s the kind of guy who gets flustered when milk spoils, so I figured he might be more sensitive about it than other guys would be, so I tried to be discreet about it.”

Kimura laughed. “’More sensitive about it than other guys?’ What the hell are you talking about? That shit’s none of our business!”

Jun furrowed her eyebrows. “What the hell are YOU talking about!? I had to go get pads and shit for my mom all the time!” She feigned a stark realization. “That… IS something all guys had to do at some point… right?”

They all had a shit eating grin of disbelief, but Takamura looked like he was a second away from losing it with laughter. Kimura shook his head slowly. “HELL, no.”

Jun lowered her head and clenched her fists tight. “So you’re telling me… this WHOLE time… my mom played me for a fool?” She surprised everyone by slamming her fist into the nearest locker hard enough to leave a dent. “That BITCH!! THAT DISGUSTING BITCH! SHE TRICKED ME BECAUSE SHE DIDN’T WANT TO GET OFF OF HER FAT, LAZY, DRUNKEN ASS!”

It wasn’t hard for Jun to act angry when thinking about her mother. The guys had temporarily backed off, but it was Aoki that stepped forward first. “Whoa, take it easy!”

She paced back and forth, fuming with all the memories where Jun had to take unnecessary blame for her mom’s embarrassing moments.

Takamura’s raucous laughter didn’t help. “You’d better watch out, Aoki! Smooth Operator Jun here will steal your girl away too on a Kotex carpet ride!” Takamura slapped his knee with his self-assumed clever retort.

“Shove it, Takamura!” Aoki gave him the middle finger.

Kimura tried to stifle his laughter long enough to console the livid squirt. “It’s okay, Tagawa-kun! There’s nothing wrong with trying to help..!” He couldn’t hold it in anymore and started chuckling again.

She slapped the locker. “You know what gets me, though? I thought that by going on that errand, I was giving Ippo an opportunity for some alone time with her, even if it was a small chance. Instead, I get back and nothing seems to have happened.” She scratched at the tip of her nose, calming down a bit. “To be honest, that would have been a great saucy story to tell if I walked in on them making out on the floor or something.” She crossed her arms. “For once, I would be the one at the top of the grape vine!” She leaned in with disarming speed into Aoki’s face. “Unlike a CERTAIN SOMEONE who seems to spew shit about me like a diarrhea fountain from a gaping asshole... “

“You really didn’t realize you ruined the mood, did you?” Kimura started to laugh.

Jun huffed in defeat. “Whatever, then. I guess they have something to laugh about, now; Jun the tampon man.”

Takamura couldn’t help himself. “So you plugged her, first?”

They all laughed, and even Jun started to crack up over that one. “S-shut up, man!” Turning to her bag, she remembered the medallions. “Oh hey, you guys remember that project I was working on? I finished the ones I wanted to make for the Kamogawa gym.” They all perked up as Jun dumped the bag onto the bench. They were all rather impressed with the craftsmanship. “This was really good practice for me. If I can figure out how to make these faster, I wonder if I can sell medallions as souvenirs for 3000 yen each.”

“Wouldn’t that still eat up a lot of your time?” Kimura asked.

Jun shrugged and held one up. “Probably. Still, it’s just a notion that’s all part of the big decision.”

“So you still don’t know if you’re going to be a pro boxer or not?” Aoki seemed concerned.

“I’ve been stressing out a bit, lately. I wanted to secure a better job, my own place, and my own transportation before making that jump, and so far I’m still at zero out of three.”

The group laughed at her idealism for their own unique reasons.

“Yeah, good luck with finding a decent paying job!” Aoki shook his head.

“Or finding your own place...” Kimura rolled his eyes.

“Stick with running to get from one place to another. It’s cheaper and good for roadwork.” Takamura tossed a medallion onto the pile.

As much as Jun wanted to protest their remarks, she did feel better knowing that she didn’t have to jump through so many hoops all at once.

“Another thing I wasn’t counting on was dieting! I’m trying to keep myself in the bantamweight range, but I’m so goddamn hungry all the time! It makes me angry, so I try to burn off the rage by working out, which makes me hungrier, and I get more angry! I’m going to start breaking things at this rate!” She tapped at the dent in the locker with her knuckles.

“So that’s why you were in such a mood yesterday and today!” Aoki realized.

“I guess.” Jun checked the swelling on the knuckles that made contact earlier.

“I didn’t realize it was arts and crafts day today.” A grouchy voice stated from behind them.

They turned around to see the coach rapping his cane against his palm and veins bulging across his bald pate. “NO MORE OF THIS SHOW AND TELL HORSESHIT! GET BACK TO WORK, YOU SLACKERS!!” He started swinging wildly as the group dispersed, with Jun trying to gather her stash back in the bag.

Jun was the last one out and the only one to apologize. “Sorry, Coach!” He hooked his cane around her arm and inspected her knuckles, then the locker. She felt chagrined. “S-sorry about that, too...”

He grumbled. “I thought I heard a commotion earlier.” He unhooked her arm and stabbed his cane to the ground. “Remember to keep your temper, brat. Boxing is about skill and technique, not wild emotional outbursts. Dieting is tough, and I understand it can be frustrating, but don’t take it too far. You’re on the lower end of the bracket, so it’s more dangerous.” He went to tap the hook of his cane to her chest, but she instinctively blocked it. He smirked and instead waved it at her head, which she also dodged. “Focus that energy into concise movements and explosive punches!”

She ducked in under his cane and stopped her uppercut inches from his chin. She had a sparkle in her eyes. “Sure thing, Coach!” She sidestepped out of cane range and ran out of the locker room.

He smirked and squeezed at the handle. Part of him wished he could have challenged the kid back in his own bantamweight days. “Cocky little brat. Don’t you dare disappoint me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • I get the feeling that having so many early morning chats over coffee and tea got Hiroko increasingly lonely for Kazuo’s companionship. I also can’t help but wonder how many “rough times” included cutting a fish hook free from a customer’s hand, having the engine stall out at sea, understanding why the word “barnacles” is an effective substitute for profanity, etc, etc.  
>  • The Ebihara bookstore is a nod to one of my favorite local bookstores, where two cats roam the premises.  
>  • The cat’s name is a reference to a very, very early draft of this fanfic, called Raki Panchu.  
>  • Jun really did blow it up in the bookstore bathroom between changing underwear. It happens sometimes.  
>  • Jun is supposed to be the same height as Kamogawa, around 5’ 3”.


	13. THE TIPPING POINT

After getting her workout done for the day and the locker room events still fresh in her mind, Jun went for another roundabout roadwork route, one that gave her a clear view of the Rainbow Bridge. She snapped a photo and tucked a rock under her camera case in the bag. On the way back, she spotted a payphone at a nondescript street corner next to some vending machines. The rant she had earlier stuck in her craw like never before. Out of sheer impulse, she put a bill into one of the vending machines, bought a juice, and took the remaining coins over to the payphone. Following the directions for out of town calls, she plunked in the necessary amount and dialed up a number that her fingers knew from route memory. She was either going to hang up immediately, or go on a thorough tirade, depending on how much her anxiety would decide for her. She pushed that notion aside completely in favor of a full blast of scathing heat. _This ain’t boxing, Kamogawa. This is cutting ties._

Her anger was abruptly diverted when the curious three-note tone sounded along with the automated message:

“We’re sorry, but the number you have dialed has been disconnected.”

She stared at the receiver with confused disgust and hung up. She took a swig from the juice, paced around a bit, and put the rest of her coins into making a second attempt, this time focusing on punching in the numbers correctly. Same answer. She hung up, not sure what to think of what just happened. She started her run back home, trying to chase off the thoughts that were now worming into her head.

 _When I left, Tashida-san had just pulled up. He had made threats about foreclosing on the house and kicking us out long before I left. Did he stay true to his threats and took the house as revenge?_ She wanted to squeeze her eyes tight, but she had to focus on the road. _Maybe Mom just couldn’t afford the phone bill anymore. It’s possible._ She started running faster to counteract the cold chill that ran down her back. _Maybe… maybe she’s moved out. Maybe she’s been hunting me down. Any day now, she could turn up, point her finger, and hiss my name like she just saw her stolen property being sold at a pawn shop._ She evened out her pace, forcing herself to breathe deep. _Well, I’m stronger now. I have friends who will stand by me… I hope._

The next day, Jun felt like she was forgetting something. She double checked everything she did, inspected her bag to make sure it was well stocked, and went as far as using up the last of the film in her roll so she could change it out. It was on the way to the gym that she noticed a display that cycled through the time, date, and weather before advertising store discounts. Something about the date felt familiar. Halfway through her workout, the light bulb went off. It took some control to not shout out her revelation. _It’s Kumi’s birthday today!_ She winced, wondering if Ippo even knew. _Dammit. I can’t even mention anything because these goobers are still on high alert, and anything that happens to Kumi travels through the grape vine like greased lightning. Man, and I was wanting another excuse to hang out, too._ She powered through her workout, frustrated. Looking over at Kimura gave her an idea. _Maybe if I play dumb…_ Finishing her weight lifting, she approached him. “Hey Kimura. I want to ask you something.”

He plucked his headphones out. “What’s up?”

“Is there some kind of event going on today? I get the weird feeling that I’m forgetting something...”

He looked to the ceiling in thought. “Uh, no, nothing that I can think of.”

Jun looked pensive. “It’s bugging me, though. It feels like it’s something important, like an anniversary or...” She scrunched up her face in confusion. “… a birthday, maybe?”

He shrugged. “Beats me.” He was ready to put his headphones back on when she motioned that she wasn’t done yet.

“You remember that trade off we made? I get a free flower purchase at your folks’ shop in exchange for the fish figurine?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeeeaah..?”

“Is it okay if I cash that in for today if I remember who it’s for? Part of me wants to think it’s for Ippo’s mom, but I want to get back and make sure, first.”

He smiled a snarky grin. “Well, aren’t you the thoughtful adopted son!”

Jun became defensive. “Hey, she breaks her back to keep her business literally afloat. To be honest, she deserves flowers just for that.”

Kimura pulled out his notebook, wrote a message, and tore the sheet out to hand it over to Jun. “Alright, you softy. Here. It’s on Roku street next to the cafe.”

Jun saluted him with the paper still tucked into her fingers. “Thanks!”

“No problem.” He put his earbuds in and went back to work.

“Sorry, I don’t know anything about this.” Kimura-san, the mother, shook her head looking at the note.

Jun looked like she just had a sneeze fizzle out. For some reason, it never occurred to her that she got swindled. It also didn’t occur to her that there was some merit in him not telling his folks that he promised a business freebie in exchange for an erotic wood carving. She didn’t feel like making a scene over a simple purchase of flowers.

“Never mind, then. Do you have any potted plants that smell really nice? Or something significant for a March birthday?”

The woman offered a choice between daffodils and what she called the “soothing collection” of lavender, jasmine, and a few sprigs of mint. The latter was more expensive, but Jun felt like it was more useful and purchased the pot. It came with a blank card that she could write a message on, and she pondered on what exactly to write. _If I sign my name, word’s going to get out. If I sign Ippo’s name, he’ll find out about the lie somehow._ She decided to omit a signature completely and simply wrote “Happy birthday, Mashiba Kumi!” and stuck the note in the holder.

It was mid afternoon, and if her assumptions were correct, Ryo should be at the gym while Kumi was either on her way home from work or taking the day off. She checked up and down the street for passerby, then left the potted arrangement at the doorstep and ran off to a back alley. She giggled, feeling a little nostalgic about leaving burning bags of dog shit on people’s doorsteps. _It’s like reverse vandalism! I like this a lot better, though!_ Her pace slowed down after the apartment was out of sight. _“Soothing collection,” huh? That would be nice in some tea._ Her thoughts connected with what Kamogawa told her, about how boxing is about skill, not raw emotion. She’s had this conflict before, after the Volg fight, but it was still a concept that half-eluded her. During workouts, she found it possible to attain a clear mind and focus, but that was for repetitive motions. Whenever it came down to brass tacks and she had to think on her feet, all she could do was rely on feral instinct and a fearful rage to put power into her fists. Part of her wondered if this mentality linked to her stomach cramps. _How do you fight, simply for fighting’s sake? I’ve only known it to be a survival tactic. That Volg guy, though. He seemed to create a harmony with both. How did he do it?_

At the next intersection, Jun decided it was time to pay another visit to the library. She spent hours paging through books on meditation, psychology, and the old great boxers, like Jack Johnson, Jess Willard, Jack Dempsey, and Gene Tunney. There was also a single, thin book about Barbara Buttrick, which fascinated Jun. Just for kicks, she ended her research session flipping through books about sexual liberation and healthy relationship habits. An announcement rang out over the library intercom, informing everyone that closing time was in half an hour. Jun put the books away quickly and rushed back home in time for dinner.

That night, she practiced meditation before going to bed. It was easy to start, but difficult to maintain. She had absorbed a lot of information in a short amount of time, and thoughts were still bouncing around in her head. Still, she managed to relax herself enough to fall asleep.

The next morning, Jun decided she still needed to get flowers for Hiroko, partly as an alibi, partly as a genuine respect for everything she does. _Maybe I’ll add the medallion she wanted, too._ She was once again almost out the door for her workout when the phone rang. An unsettling feeling of deja vu crept up her back, but she answered anyway. That feeling was mostly accurate, since it was Kumi calling from the hospital again, but this time she sounded much more energetic.

“Hello! It’s Kumi-san… May I speak with Tagawa-san?”

“Speaking! So what’s up?”

Kumi fumbled around with her words. “Umm… I know it’s a little out of the blue, but … next Saturday, I have the day off. Is it okay if… um, if I treat you this time with dinner? I feel like you’ve helped us out so much, and I wanted to pay back the favor, at least a little bit.”

Jun wasn’t getting the hint. “Aww, you don’t have to do that! You should just rest and enjoy your time off!”

“Well… I mean, I didn’t say that I was cooking… I heard that there was a culinary arts fair next weekend, and since you like to cook, maybe you would be interested?”

Jun perked up. “Oh! Yeah, that sounds pretty cool!” Jun went to find a pencil and some paper. “Do you know the details, like where it’s going to be at, or should I just look it up?”

“Sorry, I can’t remember. It might still be listed in the culture section of the newspaper.”

Jun looked over at the dining table, and the day’s paper was still there. “Oh, nice! Hold on a sec, I’ll take a look...” Setting the receiver down, she quickly fetched the paper and found the culture section side bar listing current events. “Found it! It’s from noon to eight, located at the north end of the Korakuen Botanical Gardens.” Jun did some quick calculations of her schedule and travel time. “So, does 5:30 at the fountain sound good?”

A giggle came from the other end of the line. “That sounds perfect to me! I’ll see you there! Goodbye, Tagawa-san...”

“Bye, Kumi-san! And thanks!”

The phone clicked. Jun hung up, and took the paper to the kitchen to snip out the listing. _I’m going to forget, otherwise._ She put the paper back, noted the time and place on the edge of the newsprint clipping, and tucked it away in her waist wallet. While in the wash room, she gathered up her medallion carving setup to put in her backpack. She hurried on her way to the gym. Unfortunately, Jun had to veil her answer when Kimura asked how the flowers went over. She was rather grateful that nobody seemed to be otherwise bothering her today, because her thoughts were bugging her enough as it was. She still felt like an emotional mess, trying to separate fighting skill from emotions. She tried using the meditation technique to focus on her breathing and chanting in her mind, “Fight just to fight.” She didn’t notice much improvement, but chalked it up to needing more time when trying something new. During the repetitive motion parts of her workout, her thoughts wandered all over the place, from the culinary arts fair, to her upcoming decision, to her lack of progress outside of physical recovery, to all the things she still wished to do, including going to the Rainbow Bridge and meeting up with Ryo one last time before… _Before what? Before Tagawa Jun leaves for good?_ Her stomach tensed up, and she forced herself to focus once more.

There was only one route she wanted to try for that evening’s roadwork, but she knew she didn’t have the time to do it, so instead she visited one of the nearby parks where the sakura trees were in bloom and ran a few circuits. She snapped a couple of photos and stopped by a different flower shop on the way back, purchasing a similar potted plant mix as before. Situating herself at a cafe with reflective windows, she took out her carving supplies and started on her own medallion. At first, she looked at herself with mild disgust, reminded of how long she’d been hiding behind the male facade. _This is a gift for Hiroko. Show her the face that looks upon her with kindness and respect. That will be the person she knows best._ Her face relaxed as she thought about all the interesting early morning chats they have had and how Hiroko’s positive attitude has been a great influence. The carving didn’t take very long, a little over half an hour. Jun was satisfied with the results and bought a small chain to loop through the hand carved finding. When she presented the gift to Hiroko, the excuse was that the soothing plants would help her relax though the springtime rains.

Jun’s monthly aggravation finally waned that week, and she decided to put herself to the test. She emptied out the weights from her backpack, leaving the camera case inside. It felt weird that day to do her roadwork without weights, and it took some restraint to not just fly down the road. She set out from the gym and made her way to the Rainbow Bridge, taking pictures along the way. She staged a victory pose at the end and snapped the picture with the timer function. By the time she made it back home, she was exhausted, but thrilled that she achieved her goal.

The last week of March was getting stressful. The itch to leave kept getting worse. She was paranoid about getting found out, so she kept a tight leash on how she looked, how she smelled, and that she never left a mess or any clues behind.

One early morning, she couldn’t take it anymore. She got showered and dressed, and then dug around in the closet for her old duffel bag. She pulled out all of the items; her old pot, hand carved wooden utensils, her old blanket, remnants of her toiletries, and her camping knife.

“Hey there, old friend. Haven’t seen you in a while.” She unscrewed the handle to check the matches. While digging through her old toiletries bag, she found the old carving of the tiny dick and balls. She nearly choked trying not to laugh. She wrapped everything back up, and was sorely tempted to stash all of the clothes she owned in there, too.

“Checking for spiders?”

Jun jumped in her skin. Hiroko was standing at the front of the hallway, smiling sleepily with her hands in her robe pockets. Jun held her chest down to keep her heart from pounding a hole through her rib cage.

“Don’t scare me like that!” She put the bag back in the closet and closed the door.

Hiroko giggled lightly. “Sorry. I heard a lot of clinking around, so I was curious.” She paused for a more serious tone. “You don’t have to go back to that way of life, you know.”

Jun felt guilty for wanting to bug out. “I don’t want to go back to being homeless, trust me. It’s just… I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing here in the big city, but if I go out there – to the mountains, I can at least feel like I’m more in control.”

“Life does tend to get overwhelming like that.” Hiroko stepped up closer. “But you’re not alone, and you don’t have to be. We’ll help you out for as long as you need.”

Jun wanted to break down into tears and hug the woman, to unload everything that’s been on her mind. Instead, she gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and blinked back the excess saline.

“Thank you so much, Makunouchi-san. I just hope I make the right choices, and that people won’t be too angry with me from screwing up.”

Hiroko put a hand on Jun’s shoulder, and she felt herself flinch under the touch. “It’s okay. You’ve done pretty well so far. You’ve proven you can hold a difficult job consistently, you manage your time well, and despite your proclamations of being a delinquent, the house still stands, the boat still floats, and everyone is in one piece. If anything, you’ve shown us that you do your best to turn bad situations around and give people a reason to smile.”

Jun was really struggling not to tear up. She simply nodded.

Hiroko took a deep breath that turned into a prolonged yawn. “Well, it’s pointless for me to go back to bed, save for turning off my alarm, so how does some tea with fresh jasmine sound?”

Jun smiled. “That sounds good to me.”

Throughout the morning, Jun saw ample opportunities to open up, but she just couldn’t get the words to come forth. The workout once again left her relatively unscathed from knucklehead prodding. She couldn’t help but wonder about the delay on yet another locker room interrogation, this time over a potted plant. However, if nobody was going to bother her about it, she wasn’t going to complain about it.

She had returned the weights to her backpack and set out on a different route once more. By this time, she had already looped through many of the nearby streets and was familiar with most of the terrain. A self indulgent thought wormed through, and she had to consult a phone book for her answer in conjunction with a street map. The path took her a long and winding way down, but she found the area she was looking for. The sun was starting to set, lighting the clouds up with streaks of gorgeous warm tones. In front of her, the Toho Gym gleamed like gold in the sun.

She quietly approached the open window, and saw that there were still a few boxers milling around and finishing up their sets. There was Mashiba Ryo, doing mitt practice with his coach.

The blood came rushing to her face so fast that she had to hide for a few seconds. However, cold reality set in to even things out. _What’s the point of getting flustered for? It’s not like anything can happen between us as I am now._

She turned back to the window to watch his form with a melancholy expression. She took a quiet, deep breath. _Even if I could, there’s no way I’m confessing to him in enemy territory. Man, to watch him move, though._ She checked out his ass while she could, and smirked slightly. _I wish I could have spent more time with you, Ryo. I know we didn’t talk a whole lot, but when we did, I felt strangely at ease around you after we cleared the air._ Watching him hit the mitts, she looked down at her own hand and clenched it into a fist. _How much have I improved since that first punch? Would I be able to at least move your hand this time?_ She looked back to the window, his coach trying to give him some advice. _What would have happened if I joined this gym?_ She stifled a laugh. _I probably would’ve been discovered pretty quickly. I guess I really do have Ippo to thank for standing up for me, taking me in, saying that it’s perfectly okay for me to come home to shower instead. I wouldn’t have had that luxury here, that’s for sure._ The thought of joining Ryo in the shower threatened to reopen the capillaries.

The door behind her slid open and a couple of gym members walked out. Jun at least had that warning to keep her from flinching hard at getting blindly addressed.

“Hey, what’cha doin’ kid? Watching our champ at work?”

She turned around with a slightly embarrassed but bemused look on her face. “You could say that. He’s really impressive!”

The other guy piped up. “Make sure you stay out of his way, though. He doesn’t like being bothered.”

Jun shrugged her shoulders. “I’m out here, aren’t I?”

The first guy chuckled. “You can go in, if you want, but don’t say we didn’t warn you.”

She wasn’t about to say no to that invitation. Going inside did verify something that she wondered about; not all gyms have to smell like sweat, Vaseline, and Pomade. Some smelled like sweat, medicated powder, and worn out deodorant. Looking around, the set up was similar, but with different decor. Part of her wanted to try out the equipment, but she was already noticed by the coach and Ryo. She glanced up at him, trying not to stare. His shirt was stained with perspiration and his expression was mute. The coach spoke up first.

“Oh, hello. Is there something I can help you with?”

Jun tugged her backpack up tighter onto her shoulders. “No, I was just doing my roadwork and decided to take a look around.”

The coach looked puzzled. “Roadwork? I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Tagawa Jun, from Kamogawa Gym.” Ryo startled his coach with the deadpan reply.

“You know this kid?” He asked sternly.

When Ryo didn’t give a prompt answer, Jun smugly interjected. “I have a bit of a reputation… not necessarily from boxing, but I do make myself known...”

“You’re a pain in my ass.” He bluntly retorted.

 _And what an ass it is..!_ Jun had to think of a quick reply to match her smirk. “Considering I couldn’t even make a mark the last time I tested a punch with you, that’s really saying something.”

The coach wanted to stop any trouble before it started. “Hold on, are you an amateur boxer? Because clearly we know a few names from Kamogawa, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen your name in the rookie listings.”

“Oh, I’m not anything yet, just a gym member. I do work at the Makunouchi Fishing Boat, though, if it gives you an idea why I wrinkle his boxers so much.” Jun jutted a thumb towards Ryo. “But, I’m still trying to decide where to go from here.”

The coach relaxed and smiled a little. “Oh. So are you thinking about switching gyms?”

Jun laughed. “Tempting, but no. Too many conflicts of interest.”

Ryo raised an eyebrow at her. “And what would those ‘conflicts of interest’ be?”

Jun held up three fingers. “I can think of at least three people whose fists would be interested in conflicting with my face...” She corrected herself. “Well, two people and a gorilla with a pompadour...”

“And you want to get into boxing...” He squinted an eye in suspicion.

“In my weight class, yes.” Jun surprised herself with the honesty of her answer. _Well, I guess that decision’s made now… too bad I can’t make good on it, since women’s boxing doesn’t exist around here…_

“What weight class are you going for?” The coach inquired.

“I’m aiming for bantamweight.”

The coach scratched his chin in thought. “We do have one bantamweight amateur here who could use a sparring partner. Maybe we can make temporary arrangements.”

Jun wasn’t sure what to think about this. “Well, I’m still trying to figure out what my natural weight is, so it could be a different situation in six months.”

He looked at her with suspicious confusion. “… Your ‘natural’ weight?”

Jun shrugged with a wince. “When I first came to Tokyo in October, I weighed less than ninety pounds, and I couldn’t even register a weight class, I was so skinny...”

He looked at her, horrified. Ryo didn’t have a pleasant look on his face, either.

“What makes you think you can put up with the stresses of boxing?” Ryo sounded insultingly dismissive, but Jun could see in his face that it was a genuine concern about her stomach cramping problem. “Save yourself the trouble and stick to your little carvings.”

“I won’t know until I try, and it’s not like you can stop me, either!” Jun’s sass slipped through the cracks. Ryo slowly looked at her like he was ready to take her outside and hang her on a flagpole.

“Wanna bet?”

She saw a glimmer in his eyes that told her that he was itching to find out where she’s at now. She glanced over at the protective gear nearby. “Actually, yeah. I do. Let’s make a deal; One round spar. If I can get a single hit in, then I’ll sign up for a boxing license. If I get downed three times or I fail to hit by the three minute mark, then I stick to boxing as physical therapy. But if I get knocked unconscious...” She paused to make sure her words meant it. “… then I leave Tokyo for good and never return to boxing.”

The coach looked back and forth between them nervously. “That’s a harsh statement to make...”

“You’re on.” Ryo sneered.

She equipped the protective gear and donned the twelve ounce gloves. The coach was reluctant to concede, but he didn’t have the energy to argue with his champion this late in the day.

“Just don’t kill the kid, okay?” He pulled out his stopwatch while waiting outside of the ring.

Ryo didn’t bother with any protective gear, nor did Jun expect him to. She knew that getting even one hit on him wasn’t going to be easy, both in terms of prowess and her own emotional desires. Regardless, she tucked in her arms in defense and waited for the gong. _Just go for it. Don’t let fear catch you, don’t even think. Just go._ She took a deep breath and let it out as the bell rung. She tried to zip in low, but Ryo didn’t even have to move when a flash of motion cracked into her nose. It stunned her, suddenly bringing back the memory of how her whole arm rung with his punch. She backed away for a second, now seeing that the hitman style was in motion. She tried to shake it off, but her nerves were alive with a flight response.

“That’s something else completely, feeling it with your face...” She sniffed.

Ryo gave a hint of a smile. He started closing in on her. She could feel the heat build up in her back and arms. The headgear obstructed her vision enough as it was, but trying to guard her face with a clear view was near impossible. She managed to duck the first flicker, blocked the second, but by the time she got halfway in, a strong one deflected her guard and she took another to the face, this time above her eye, and in the time it took her to recover, he had already swooped in and rang her head with a right. The headgear kept her from concussing, but the brunt force of the hit dropped her to the mat.

“That’s ONE...” Ryo stood back, arms crossed.

The coach started the count. Jun shook the stars from her eyes and stumbled upward at the count of five.

“Whoo! Damn! I’ve got a lot to learn!” She tried to circle him while talking. “I’ve got to say, it’s quite an honor to get the chance to fight a champion.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts.” He darted a few flickers at her. She decided to try for timing it and experimenting with different movements in her dodges. It didn’t take long for him to get tired of her tricks and decided for a more brutal approach. He cornered her by the ropes and took apart her defense. Before he could lay into her face once more, the memory of her mother drunkenly jamming the bottle at her eyes flashed before her. At first, she freaked out, ducking the incoming hit. Then rage shot through her as she jolted a straight right in front of her. He swayed back, avoiding the flurry of combinations afterward.

“DISGUSTING BITCH!!” She threw out an uppercut that completely missed. He saw the burning hatred in her eyes before they met his. Much to his chagrin, the flame blew out in an instant as she snapped back into reality. He gave a solid body blow and two more hits before he landed her on the mat once more. She gasped for air and struggled to her knees as the count started up again. Her vision started to wobble and blacken.

 _What… what just happened?! I… tried to fight HER… I’ve never tried to physically hurt her!_ The cramp forming in her stomach threatened to make her black out completely.

Ryo’s gravelly voice sliced an oily gash through her daze.

“GET UP...”

In that instant, the cramp dissipated and the heat roared through her body. His words possessed her with a seething focus, pulling her up from the mat like puppet strings. Despite her mind trying to allude him with her abusive mother and tangle up her emotions, the memory of the magazine article overpowered it. She was here for one purpose; to face her fears, and the horseman of hunger and desperation was going to teach her. When the count stopped, she had to speak up.

“I saw her! For a brief second, I tried to hit her!”

Ryo stood back, confused. “Who?”

Jun pulled her gloves toward her to expose her wrists. He lowered his head with grim understanding.

“Oh. Right. Your old bag.” He started swinging his left again, but now more out of habit rather than preparation. “I was wondering why you called me a BITCH...”

He lashed out a volley of jabs only for her to dodge rapidly, but she was backing away rather than pushing forward. The game of hunt and peck was pissing him off. “So you’re just going to keep running away? Pathetic...” He tightened his movements and threw out a strong flicker. She dodged it. Ryo’s eyes widened when she deflected his second flicker with her right.

“I don’t WANT to keep running away, but I don’t want to turn abusive like her, either! I’m trying to find my answer to flight or fight!” She swayed around his hits with peculiar timing.

“Then fight back, or I’ll end you.”

The blunt reality of his words made her emotional turmoil clear out. The flame returned to her eyes. He continued to snap jabs at her, and she continued to dodge them.

Ryo glared at her. _This is bullshit. You rigged this little gamble to favor you running away. Since you want it so bad, I’ll give you your answer…_

He gauged her movements and maneuvered her to come close enough to use a full force chopping right. However, when he expected her head to bob up from a ducking position, she lunged forward and… pulled an outer leg take down.

He immediately lost his balance and fell backward. She had a pained expression behind her glare.

The coach jumped into the ring, furious with Jun’s tactic. “HEY, HEY, HEY!! YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO DO THAT IN THE RING! THAT’S ILLEGAL!”

She yelled back at him. “What makes you think this was fair in the first place? Different weight classes and a pro against a trainee?! Go get your glasses checked!”

Ryo had sat up and simply watched the fireworks. Coach’s face was turning red with fury.

“DON’T YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT, KID! IN FACT, DON’T YOU EVER COME IN THIS GYM EVER AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME? YOU ARE BANNED, YOU LITTLE CHEAT!”

Jun ripped the head gear off and spiked it on the canvas, along with her gloves. “FINE! So I’m a cheating little prick! So what? Sometimes, you gotta do things your own way to survive and get ahead!” She paused for a second, a revelation forming in her mind. “Anything worth having is worth fighting for, even if it means fighting … dirty...”

 _That sounds familiar…_ Ryo inwardly smiled as he stood up.

“GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY, YOU—”

“Calm down, old man. It’s not the end of the world.” Ryo turned to look at Jun’s bloodied and bruised face. “He got the answer he was looking for.” He pulled off his gloves and shoved them into his coach’s hands. “I’m going to shower. Let the kid clean up, too.”

The coach, baffled by Ryo’s sudden calmness, turned to Jun and begrudgingly gave his final notice.

“You’re still banned from here, but … just hurry it up. Follow him to go wash your face. The medical kit is along the same wall.”

Jun stared at him for a second before picking up her gear and leaving the ring for the showers. The throbbing in her face dampened any hormones she had going before, and only wanted to take care of herself before circumstance changed her mind. Going to the sink, she saw the damage in the mirror and cringed with her non-sore facial muscles.

“Eeeugh!”

Blood had clotted inside her nostrils and her eyebrow was swelling some with light seepage. A giant welted bruise surrounding a cut was spreading across the bridge of her nose, marking most of the damage. Her cheeks were reddened and swelling, too. It wasn’t the worst she’d looked in her life, but it was definitely in the top ten. She noticed the bruising on her arms when she reached for the soap.

 _Those punches are no joke. I wonder if he was even using full strength…_ Her eyes widened briefly at the thought and shook her head before lathering up her face. She rinsed off just in time to hear bare skin footsteps coming from around the corner. She dried off and ducked out before risking a glance.

At the first aid station, she took her time to clear her nose of dried blood and bandage up the freshly oozing wounds. The cold water had helped with the swelling, for which she was thankful. She made a comically grouchy face back at herself in the mirror, complete with a growl under her breath.

 _I may have had my ass handed to me, but now I look tough! Rawrr!_ Her face went through a few more facetious expressions before ending on a tickled smile. She noticed the coach was glaring at her from the corner of her eye, thwarting her good mood. She closed up the first aid case, gathered her belongings, and exited the door. There was still a slight chill in the air, but it was relaxing into a more warmly humid atmosphere. Standing at the doorway, she looked up at the sky bathed in twilight. The constellations weren’t fully out yet, but she could make out key stars, allowing her to reminisce on quieter nights. She calmly breathed through her mouth, returning back to reality. _That… could have gone a lot better, but it could have gone a hell of a lot worse._

The door slid open, and she turned to see a clean, changed out, and sweet smelling Ryo carrying his duffel. “You’re still here?”

She turned away before the blushing would make her face throb like a beacon. “Ah, I just got distracted.” She looked back up at the sky. “It doesn’t matter where I am or how small I feel; when I watch the stars, it’s like I have the best view in the whole universe.”

He looked up at the sky for a moment as well. He broke the brief silence.

“How’s your face?”

Jun laughed a little. “It could be worse, but I can breathe. Lucky for me I caught you at the end of the day, otherwise my face would’ve swollen stuck inside the headgear.”

He gave a small chuckle. “Yeah… I only kind of felt like beating you to a pulp.” He motioned his head to his right. “You going down this way?”

She shrugged. “I can...”

They started walking together down the side of the street. He continued the conversation.

“So you’re going to get your boxing license… That’ll make things interesting,” he said cryptically.

Jun didn’t see it that way. “What do you mean? I didn’t get any hits in!”

“Yes you did.” He pointed a finger to a spot under his wrist. “Right here.”

She had already forgotten about deflecting his punch. “Wait, THAT COUNTED?!”

“Yup.”

She laughed, not believing that her wager panned out. “Okay then, I’ll go apply for a license!” _If Barbara Buttrick can do it..._ She fantasized to herself.

“You were going to do that anyway, regardless of how the spar turned out, weren’t you.”

She couldn’t hide the excitement anymore. “...Yeah, but I still needed a little push in the right direction.”

He gave a weak smile. “Speaking of little pushes, no more of that martial arts crap.”

She rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry! I stepped in too much and I instinctively defaulted to that move. I was going to lose anyway, so might as well go down like the pain in the ass that I am...”

He mentally compared Jun’s assertive tenacity with Ippo’s lopsided spinal fortitude and smiled a little brighter. “...You’re not actually a pain in my ass. You’re more like… a persistent rash.” The smile twisted into a wry grin.

Jun heaped on the sarcasm. “Wow! I’ve been upgraded to RASH?!?”

He snickered in response, but became more serious. “To be honest, I was NOT happy to see you again, after hearing about what you did last time...” He said only half honestly.

Jun paused for a second, not sure what he meant by that.

He helped jog her memory. “Your little run for supplies.”

A rolling groan came out of her as she held her swollen face in her hand. “Of course she told you about that.” She held out her arms in defeat. “Okay... I’m really, truly sorry I embarrassed your sister like that, but when she’s smacking into the wall passing out, I assume she’s lost a lot of blood.”

Ryo tensed up. “She… didn’t mention anything about passing out...”

Jun corrected herself. “Well, she didn’t actually pass out, but she did bump the wall with her shoulder and started to collapse.”

The corner of his mouth twitched at a worried frown. There was a brief silence as he reconsidered his outlook. “… Thanks… for helping her, and for making the food.”

Jun gave a thumbs up. “Anytime, man. It’s been a while since I’ve been allowed to cook, so I’m glad I wasn’t too rusty.”

He looked at her, confused. “Not ALLOWED to cook?”

“Yeah, Hiroko-san just doesn’t like having someone take over that aspect of the dinner duties. I’m not sure if it’s motherly pride or what, but she’s dead set on making the meals in her house. I’m not about to argue with my boss, though.”

His eye twitched. “You’re still sharing space with Makunouchi?”

She sighed. “Unfortunately. I should have enough money saved up to cover a down payment and maybe two months of rent for an apartment. I would prefer to have a better paying job lined up first before I move out.” She kicked a pebble into the street. “The crappy thing is… part of me wants to go back to living rent free in the mountains.”

“I don’t blame you there.”

“I had told everyone that I would be making a decision in April. They all thought I was strictly talking about getting a boxing license, but… that wasn’t all. It was many decisions linked to one: either I stay in Tokyo, and make it on my own, or I leave and go back to camping in the mountains just to revert back to being a starving vagrant next winter.”

“Why the hell would you want to go back to that?” He sneered.

She looked up to the stars once more. “Because at least in the mountains, I’m free to be me. I don’t have to pander to anyone. It’s so beautiful and quiet and scary out there, but in a natural, adventurous way. I love that part of it.”

Ryo was hesitant to ask, but did anyway. “… So what’s stopping you?”

She looked somberly out at the horizon. “Something happened that I never expected to happen. I made friends. Good friends, who actually stuck with me through my garbage attitude and helped me out. Friends who inspire me to stand up and keep going, like you do...”

There was an awkward silence as Jun followed Ryo around the corner.

“If you think I’m your friend, well… you’ve got some shit taste in friends.” He smiled at the end, not able to deny himself.

She laughed, remembering the cricket incident. “That’s not the first time I’ve been told I’ve got shitty taste.”

“Your choice of music told me that,” he snarked. She responded with a raspberry.

“Well, either way, I need to move out soon. Probably after the culinary arts fair—” She stopped, suddenly realizing that Kumi had asked her out on a date. She cringed heavily at her naivete.

“Culinary arts fair? What does that have to do with anything?” He unwittingly inquired.

Jun sighed heavily. “Ehhhh… Judging by your reaction, I take it Kumi-san didn’t tell you about it...”

She felt his gaze pierce through her head.

“About WHAT.”

Suddenly, she wished she had the headgear back on. Reaching into her wallet, she pulled out the newspaper clipping and handed it to him. “She invited me to go to the fair with her, as thanks for my help.”

After reading it, he glared at her for a few seconds before responding in a low growl. “You’re either incredibly stupid or you’ve got brass balls to be telling me this to my face.”

“You wanna come with us?” She smiled, completely throwing him off guard.

“...What?”

“I think it would be cool, provided you’re not on a diet or anything.”

He looked at her like a dog that just saw a disappearing kibble magic trick. He couldn’t come up with the words to respond. He finally gave up and just told the truth.

“Well, damn. You just sucked the fun out of the hunt.”

Jun cracked up.

He continued. “Why the hell would you WANT me to tag along?”

She finally caught her breath to answer him. “Think of it like... you know that a black bear is in the area: would you rather watch him from a distance, or not be able to see him at all?”

He glared at her, not happy with the comparison to a bear.

She corrected herself once more. “Scratch that. It’s more like… you’re a lone wolf, and I could either turn my back and run, or I could approach you, asking, ‘Hey, would you like to join me for some fresh rabbit and howl at the moon?’”

He smiled at her after a pause. “You’re a strange one.”

She gave a veiled response. “You don’t know the half of it.”

They walked for a distance, chatting about intense encounters, sharing stories about school antics, fights, and how they used to be before trauma changed their lives. Jun had to modify details of her life, but kept things mostly intact. They were getting close to Ryo’s street when the topic of love interests was unintentionally broached.

“I used to hang out with this rough-looking group for a while, until one of the guys… uh, spread rumors about how he had an amazing lay with the girl I was with. I threw a chair at his head.”

Ryo snickered. “He deserved that. What happened to the girl?”

Jun had to figure out how to word it, since she was the girl in the story, and she did throw a chair at the bastard for bragging about his ‘impressive’ two minute fuck. “She bailed, didn’t want to deal with the drama anymore.”

He waved his hand like he was dissipating a nasty stench. “Meh. Girls aren’t worth the trouble, anyway.”

Jun looked at him with heavy suspicion. “You… didn’t date a lot in high school, did you.”

He gave her a prolonged look. “The last time I had anything to do with anything resembling dating, I was shorter than you.”

She had quite the time envisioning him before puberty steamrolled him. “Wow. How did that go?”

He swung his duffel in agitation. “She teased me long enough to embarrass me in front of the class. I snipped off her ponytail during a group project after that.”

She felt bad for him. “Fair enough, I guess.” Against better judgment, she pressed the matter, rubbing the back of her neck. “So… you’re into girls, then?” He slowly turned to look at her, squinting hard. She cringed a nervous smile. “...You’re… not into girls?” He squinted harder. Jun flung up her arms in a huff. “Alright, door number three! You’re into the cold, black void of space where nobody’s going to bother you!!”

He finally wore down to exasperation. “That sounds about right.”

Jun wanted to dance around the subject like a bonfire. “What would you do if a pretty little thing fell for you, though?”

The laughter that belted out of him put a lump in her throat. The more he laughed, the more awkward she felt. He finally started to calm down. She had never seen him like that, and the bitterness that tinged his outburst was palpable.

“Ah, you’re funny.”

All she could do was look down at the street, wondering if she should say anything further about it. No matter how she phrased it in her head, any reply would essentially be her confession. _Do… Do I tell him?_ The lump in her throat turned into a solid knot. _I JUST sparred with him, how in the world do I say this now? WOW, he was right. I am incredibly stupid…_

The awkward silence graded into a full breath grumble from Ryo. He spoke quietly.

“I… I don’t know… I don’t want to waste my time thinking about it.” He took a moment to look down at her, returning to his normal speaking volume. “I was expecting you to have some pissant comeback or something.”

She slowly shrugged. “What’s there to say? You won the championship belt, I figured you’d start getting attention...” She trailed off.

Ryo started laughing bitterly again. “You don’t go into boxing to get laid, dumbass.”

She laughed nervously. “I guess not...”

They had finally approached the apartment. They stopped at the landscaping next to the staircase.

“You’re a weird kid, but at least it was entertaining. I see why you have a reputation. Not many people can piss off Coach enough to get banned ten minutes in.” He put a hand in his pocket and leaned against the guardrail.

She looked at him coyly. “Can’t help but love playing with fire.”

“You’re going to get burned, though. Bad.” The glimmer in his eye gave a subtle warning.

She took in a deep breath. “When I do, I deal with it. Somehow, some way.”

He squeezed the duffel handles in his fist repeatedly. He glared down at her with stone faced severity. “Listen, Tagawa. Seriously, don’t piss me off. Just because it’s been… something else… with you hanging around, it’s not going to give you any protection if I ever find you laying a hand on my sister, you got that?”

Her eyes shone as they met his. “I know. That’s why I’m not afraid, because I’ll do my damnedest to make sure she stays safe.” She cocked her head. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us on the weekend?”

“HUSH.” He gruffly warned under his breath.

He worked his jaw tight, first looking down at the brazen, ferret-like kid before him and then up at the light shining through a window from his living room, knowing that his sister was waiting, completely unaware that she had been caught red handed. He narrowed his eyes upon making his decision.

“No, not with you. Just at a distance. I’ll be watching you carefully...”

He knelt down close enough to whisper. “And YOU know that, but she won’t, because you’re not going to tell her, and neither am I.” He turned away, letting out a slow, exasperated breath from his nose because his jaw clenched up again. “So be careful… and … UGH. Have… fun, or whatever.” He stabbed a finger a fraction of an inch away from the bandage on her bruised forehead. “But no sneaky bullshit from you! Take her home immediately after, then leave.” He poked her bandage at each word for emphasis. “NO. EXCEPTIONS.”

She blinked off the provocation. “And YOU make sure to try the free samples while you’re on guard duty, big brother...” She waggled her own finger in front of his face. She then smiled, going back to a more honorable note in her voice. “Don’t worry about it, okay? I’m just interested in the food.”

He gave a sneer to frame his sarcasm. “So, you’re not into girls?”

She covered her mouth trying not to laugh out loud at how he served back her own words. “No, I’m also into the cold, sprawling void of space. Want some of that black hole action, y’know? Getting compacted to the size of an atom, oh yeah...”

His face didn’t move much, but his arm muscles tensed. “Be careful what you wish for.” Her jovial mood deflated, realizing that the joke was just another lie to the both of them, and she regretted it. Not only could he see that she was lying, albeit with a different interpretation, but now he had an open invitation to beat the ever living shit out of her if he so wished.

Regardless of her words, he stood back up and tousled her hair roughly, ending on a swipe that left her three-quarters hairstyle flopped over like a collapsed haystack. “See you on the weekend, Tagawa-chan...”

Her eyes followed him up the stairs, still stunned by the unexpected act of intimate physical contact. She allowed herself a moment of unguarded emotional indulgence, slowly smoothing her hair back while watching his glutes operate opposite of each other. The words escaped under her breath. “Yeah… Good night, Ryo-chan...”

She turned and left, starting up her roadwork again. It didn’t take long for the warm glow in her cheeks to fade, giving way to the ache of guilt and paranoia. _Could I have told him? Why did I have to lie so much? I should have just told him what the FULL decision was. ‘Ryo, I’m a...’_

Even in her thoughts, she faltered. _I am so sorry, Ippo. I shouldn’t judge you so harshly when I’m guilty of being a coward, too._ She felt the bruise under her midsection padding. _Has he figured it out yet? Does he suspect something’s amiss? Or am I still passing, somehow?_ She watched her fists clench and release while running. _Didn’t it seem off just how weak I am compared to him?_ She had to slow down because her head was throbbing too much. _I need to stop running. I need to stop dancing around so much… Anything worth keeping, is worth fighting for._ She touched the spot over her heart, pressing hard enough with her palm to feel the subtle contours of the bandage edges. _I need to fight to free myself. From the bandages, from the fear, and from the lies. This weekend… is the end._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Jun, you should have stuck to Project Wingman and gave the potted plants to Ippo, then tell him to drop them off for her birthday.  
>  • I don’t know what the libraries are like in Tokyo, but I figured that a city that big would have books on just about anything.  
>  • “Battling” Barbara Buttrick, according to Wikipedia, was a world champion in women’s boxing during the 40’s and 50’s with a record of 30-1-1.  
>  • Jun does enjoy learning and reading, but at her own pace.  
>  • Something that always bothered me about Kumi was that early on, she seemed to take initiative and pursued interests requiring inner strength, such as going on roller coasters and becoming a nurse, but later in the series she just… plateaued? Regressed in character development, even? She doesn’t seem like someone who would just sit around and wait for good things to happen to her.


	14. CAUGHT

An overnight rain had cleared the skies, leaving the air fresh and the fish biting. There was a large bracket of groups for both the morning and the afternoon, but Jun had already put in time off. Still, she helped out with the morning crew and watched as the next group left, this time with Ippo on board. There was a brief window of opportunity for privacy, and Jun seized it.

The duffel once more came out of the closet, as well as a shoe box of accumulated photos. She brought it over to the photo album, where she pulled out the photo of Ryo with his championship belt and tucked it inside the shoe box. Before stuffing it in the bag, she added with it the satchel of medallions and her carving kit from her backpack. Her camera case came along with her to the laundry room, where she wrapped most of the clothes she owned – not the borrowed ones, around the case and stuffed the wad into the duffel. She left out a three piece suit that she cobbled together at a thrift store; black slacks, a peacoat jacket, a white button-up long sleeve shirt, a crimson vest, and a matching red neck tie, along with her undergarments remaining in her drawer. Finally, she went into Hiroko’s room where Jun’s savings were held. She opened the box, and was startled to see her own medallion hanging from the inside of the lid. Her heart twinged at the sentiment, but she was on a mission. She counted out the money, which despite not having a great pay rate, still amounted to a tidy sum after nearly six months, close to 100,000 yen. Holding the roll of cash in her hand, she loathed herself for pulling her savings like this. Instead, she took 50,000 yen and put the rest back in the box. Jun, fighting off tears, wrote a note and tucked it under the lid before closing it and returning the box back. It was a letter, one that she had been meaning to write for a long time:

Makunouchi Hiroko,

I’m sorry, but I need to move on. I’ve lied to everyone, and

I hope that you can forgive me. You’ve been such a wonderful

mother and an amazing captain! I hope to see you again someday.

Take this as a gift, and live your life!

With love, respect, and gratitude,

Tagawa Junko.

She packed most of the money into her duffel and pinched 2,000 yen to add to yesterday’s allowance in her waist wallet. Pulling her backpack over her shoulder and the duffel in her hand, she stopped in front of the bust and photo of Kazuo. She knelt into a bow before him.

“Thank you so much for your family’s kindness. Please forgive me for any pain I’ll cause. I’ll do my best to make things right.”

She walked out the front door, looking for a place to hide her duffel. Her eyes were drawn towards the ocean, its gentle ripples glistening white light above the rich blue depths. It felt like the perfect point of no return, to prevent herself from running away again. She took a deep breath, braced herself, and ran to the dock’s edge, whirling her duffel for momentum. A split second before releasing her grip to launch the bag into the water, good sense came over her and she clamped down on the handles, the bag threatening to pull her over the edge of the dock. Whirling it back around and setting it gently onto the concrete, she let out her held breath.

“WHAAAT IS WRONG WITH ME?!” She took a moment to calm down, bracing her hands on her knees and bent over panting. The hair fanned in front of her face as she turned her head to look once more at the building she had called home for the winter. Her eyes darted up to the sign.

Standing up straight, she brought her duffel over and chucked it up onto the roof where it rolled down and hid snugly behind the sign and out of sight. “There! You’re not getting it back until you’ve come clean, Junko!” She shouted before running off to the gym.

Her workout was focused and intense. She had the aura that warned others not to disturb her, and did as such. The guys had pestered her earlier in the week when the bruises Ryo gave her were still fresh, and she simply stated that she had a tough spar. The bruises had since healed, with only the scratches still waiting to flake off the scabs. When it came time to switch her name plate and leave for her roadwork, she removed the weight plates from her bag and took one last look around the place, focusing briefly on all the faces she had come to know and respect… one, begrudgingly so.

“Thanks, you guys, for everything,” she said quietly, shutting the door behind her.

For once, she didn’t go exploring around Tokyo. Instead, she took the route when she was first tested with the routine. Much to her surprise, it still wasn’t easy. She finished the laps with a layer of sweat, but relieved that she had a much better memory of the route now. _That’s what I get for taking breaks and photo ops too much. Tokyo bridge was still harder, though._ She grinned, catching her breath before making her way back home.

Despite the heavy dread of getting a question about the note, the coast was clear. She got showered and dressed without interference. Looking at herself in the mirror as a sharp-looking gentleman, she couldn’t help but quietly giggle. _I do have to admit, I like this part of passing as male!_ She felt confident, respectable, even sexy. _I’m going to miss this. Well, not the binding part. That still hurts._

On her way out, the boat was approaching in the distance. Not wanting to explain herself, she decided to risk her farewells for later and left for the train station.

Jun felt conspicuously well-dressed at the Korakuen Park fountain, but figured that since Big Brother was watching, it was for the best to be easily spotted. She did regret having to wear so many layers in rising temperatures. She pulled off her jacket and hung it over her shoulder. The smell of the food wafting by was distracting. At just a little past 5:35, a finger tapped her shoulder as she was admiring the scenery. Turning around, she saw Kumi dressed up in a flowing skirt and blouse combination reflective of the springtime colors and breeze. Jun couldn’t help but smile in broad admiration at how adorable she looked.

“Wow! Looking nice, Kumi-san! Ready for the warmer weather, huh?”

She blushed a little. “Yeah… You look sharp as well, Tagawa-san!”

She tugged at her necktie to straighten it out. “I left my Crayon Shin-chan rib bib in the wash, though, so I feel naked without it.”

Kumi laughed at the ridiculous mental image.

Jun motioned towards the fair further down the path with a flourish. “Shall we go?”

She nodded, joining next to her. Jun took a brief look around, but didn’t see the brotherly shadow anywhere.

From one end of the fair to the other, they sampled all kinds of foods and pastries, sharing opinions and discussing details with the vendors. One in particular had takoyaki so delicious, that Jun had to buy herself a full order and treated Kumi to dinner, as well. They sat down at a booth near an advertisement partition. Jun couldn’t help but wonder if someone was listening in on the other side of the billboard...

The two of them talked about what their favorite samples were so far, a few work stories, and they each started to broach more sensitive topics, like the Aoki-Tomiko grapevine, and Jun’s own agenda.

“The last time we talked, you mentioned something about a big decision… what was that about?” She idly moved the straw in her soda cup.

Jun wiped her mouth with a napkin before responding. “Uh, I wanted to decide on whether or not I was going to apply for a professional boxing license… but to do that, I first had to decide on whether I was going to stay in Tokyo, or pull up stakes again.”

She stopped the straw. “I see… did you… decide on what you’re going to do?”

“I did.” She took a sip of her own drink for anticipation’s sake. “...I’ve decided that I’m going to stay in Tokyo, and get my boxing license when I move into my own place.”

Kumi smiled awkwardly. “Congratulations! I… well, I still don’t quite understand the appeal of boxing, but I’m glad you’re staying!” She followed with a more serious tone. “I had heard rumors. Since you were… homeless before… I was worried that you had gotten in trouble, and that’s why you wanted to leave.”

“Aw, thanks for being concerned, but the time has come. Any trouble I get into now, I’ll have to face the consequences and take responsibility for it. I do have to thank your brother for inspiring me to behave like an adult.” She slowly pulled a takoyaki ball off of the skewer and popped it in her mouth.

Kumi twirled her own skewer in her fingers. “He’s been behaving a little differently, too. I’ve noticed that he’s been smiling more often, mainly when he mentions you every now and then. He thinks I don’t see him, pacing around the phone, picking it up, then putting it back down,” she giggled. “He can’t stand the thought of calling up the Makunouchi household, but he still mumbles about onigiri around that phone...”

This time Jun laughed. “Yeah, he thanked me for them!”

Kumi tilted her head. “That’s strange. When did you talk with my brother?”

Jun paused mid bite, thinking for a second before swallowing. “I bumped into him recently. Can’t remember exactly when, though.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Was that when you dropped off the flowers?”

Jun shook her head. “No, it was after that.” When she saw Kumi’s sly grin, it sunk in that she wasn’t supposed to admit to delivering the gift. “I mean… uh...”

She laughed when Jun finally hung her head in defeat. “Alright, how did you know it was me?”

Kumi finished off her soda with smug self-satisfaction. “The handwriting on the note matched your coupon on the fridge.”

“Ugh! Right...” Jun winced.

Kumi pulled her last takoyaki off of the skewer, still looking at Jun. “Thank you so much for remembering my birthday. The flowers make the whole apartment smell nice. They’re still holding up well, too.”

Jun was glad she enjoyed the gift. Finishing off her own takoyaki, the flowers reminded her of the medallion project. She quickly wiped off her hands and dug around for the two in her wallet.

“Mmm! That’s right! There was something else I wanted to do today!” She laid the medallions down on the table and fished around in her jacket pocket. “I found my knife in the closet, the same one I had when we first met at the restaurant!” Jun plucked off the safety cap. “Do you remember me telling you about the medallions? They’re all finished, and I just have these two left to do; one for you, and one for your brother.”

Kumi examined one of the half carved rounds with adoring fascination. “That’s so cute! I wish I could see the other ones...”

Jun scratched idly at her cheekbone. “Sorry I didn’t think to bring them. Also, the photos from your brother’s party were difficult to use as reference, so I was wondering… could I ask you two to model for these, instead?”

She was taken aback in slight confusion. “Model for them?!”

“That is, may I carve this out while we sit and talk for a little longer? I’ll have to catch your brother later, if he’s willing to agree.”

She felt flattered. “Of course!”

Jun tried to work fast but safe while holding a conversation. As she was finishing up, she got carried away talking about how Ryo was a great inspiration for all sorts of projects she wanted to work on, catching herself getting too worked up.

“Sorry, it’s just that he has such a presence, and I just want to capture that raw, unapologetic severity to photo!” Her focus went back to carving out the last of the details.

Kumi had never heard anyone talk at such positive length about her brother before. Her focus shifted from the hand working the blade up to the handsome face smiling down at the work in progress. Jun brushed away the shavings and handed over the medallion for Kumi to take a closer look at.

“Wow! It’s like a little cameo pendant!” She held it up to her chest as if she were wearing it like a necklace. “You’re really good at this, Tagawa-kun!” She marveled, handing it back.

“I try to practice when I can.” She tucked the medallions back into her wallet coin pocket and put her knife away. “Thank you for being so patient! Did you want to look around at the fair some more, or are you good?”

Kumi started to clean up her end of the table. “Um, I did want to take a look at the booth with the petite fours, but other than that, I’m almost full!”

Jun cleaned up as well. “Me too! I’ll have to walk some of this off before going home!” From behind the partition, there was an audible sucking at a straw of an empty cup. She paused for a second. “Well, walking you home would count.”

The sun was creeping closer to the horizon by the time they reached Kumi’s street. Jun did her best not to check behind her for anyone following and distracted herself with different conversation topics. When they approached the bottom of the stairs, Kumi turned to Jun with a coquettish twirl.

“Thank you so much for coming out with me. It was a lot of fun!”

Jun had her hands in her pockets and tapped her toe on the ground. “Thanks for inviting me! I forget to check the papers when I’m busy, so I’m glad you caught it!”

Jun didn’t want to idle for too long, so after a brief moment, she decided to say her goodbyes. “Well, I’ve got to—” The mental image of her duffel sitting behind the Makunouchi Fishing Boat sign suddenly brought her fun evening to an anxiety ridden halt. She took a deep breath and reconsidered her words. “… Actually, there’s something I need to take care of before going home.”

“Oh, right! My brother’s cameo!” She motioned Jun to follow her up the stairs. She started to feel a sickening cramp threaten at her stomach, Ryo’s warning echoing in her mind. She quickly scanned the streets for any movement. They were alone.

“Is he home? I can’t remember when he goes to the gym...”

She turned and smiled suspiciously. “He did his training early. He said he wanted to go see a movie tonight.”

Jun felt sweat beading on her back. “Oh. That’s nice...” She frantically looked around for any clues before Kumi reached the top of the stairs. _Ryo, where ARE you!??_

When she joined Kumi on the landing, there was a twinkle in her eye as she asked a loaded question. “Would you like to wait inside in the meantime?”

Jun was mentally scrambling on how to avoid getting trapped in the apartment where an angry brother could break the table over her head. _I need to get out of here, but I can’t go home yet! Not until I get the words out!!_

She took a deep breath, straightened her posture, and spoke as calmly as she could.

“To be honest, Kumi-san, there is something very important that I need to tell both you and your brother, face-to-face. I cannot leave until I do.”

Kumi face started to redden. “… You can tell me right now... My brother doesn’t have to be here...”

Jun lowered her head and closed her eyes in embarrassed shame. “No, he does. He’s going to find out eventually anyway. How nobody has figured it out yet is...” When she opened her eyes back up, Kumi had stepped in uncomfortably close.

“You’ve wanted to tell me for a while, haven’t you?”

Jun had to step back. It took a moment, but the dread that she was feeling finally crystallized in her brain that Kumi was expecting a love confession, not a gender reveal. Jun instinctively took another step backward, but only air met under her foot. She stumbled backwards, unable to grab the handrail in time. Kumi gasped while Jun yelled out in a panic.

“OH, SHIII—”

Kumi had reached forward and grabbed Jun by the vest, pulling her up and back onto the landing. She used too much force however, and Jun ended up stumbling after, grabbing onto Kumi’s shoulders for stability.

Once again, Jun opened her eyes to find Kumi’s face close enough to hers that her bangs tickled at Jun’s forehead. She froze, Kumi’s eyes searching hers. She started to feel her vest get pulled in just a little closer. Kumi’s eyelids started to drift closed as she went to lean in.

Before their lips could meet, Jun dipped her head out of the way. Her hoarse whimper grew into a nervous proclamation.

“Hiiiihh, I CAN’T DO THIS!”

Kumi was jolted from her trance when Jun pushed her away at arm’s length, still grasping her shoulders.

“Wh-what? But you...”

Jun was starting to panic badly. “I-I’m sorry, Kumi, you are a sweet and wonderful young woman and I’m proud to call you a friend, and I DO love and care about you, but I am not IN LOVE with you! I’m in love with… someone else.” She cringed at the last part, side-eyeing the street.

Kumi became numb with shock. “You… you led me on this whole time?”

“I didn’t mean to! I was trying to –” _… Use you to get to Ryo…_ Jun felt her own metaphorical knife puncture between her back ribs to her heart.

The poor girl was already shedding tears. “Trying to do what!? Use me as practice??”

Jun’s self loathing joined in with the panic circling inside her head. “Please, don’t cry! I –”

“Let go of me.”

“Kumi, wait –”

She broke free from Jun’s grasp and slapped her across the face. “ **LET GO OF ME!** ”

Jun felt absolutely no anger from being hit. She knew she deserved it, and so much more. “Kumi, please just let me get this secret off of my chest.”

She glared at Jun while fumbling with the keys to the door. “Go tell my brother, then.”

Jun gripped the doorknob tightly. Kumi was now scared, but saw that Jun was shaking, trying not to cry. “I’ve been lying to everyone about who I am! [Boku wa—]” She stopped herself and hissed a deep breath through her teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut. “[Watashi …wa... shou–]”

Kumi gasped loud, causing Jun’s eyelids to fly open. She had failed to notice the wall of heat behind her while getting the words out.

In an instant, pain exploded on the side of her head and she felt the world tumble to match the blur in her eyes. Momentum flung her over the concrete barrier, grasping the rough edge briefly before falling to the shrubbery below.

Her jacket fluttered down, dropping like a curtain before Ryo’s livid visage. He vaulted over the barrier and landed near Jun with a thud on his feet. She tried to run, but his arm whipped out and nabbed her by the collar, pulling her out into the street and dangling her. Only the tips of her shoes and her grip on his wrist kept her from choking.

“SO YOU’RE A LIAR, HUH?” He belted her one in the liver. She gasped, curling her arm around her waist. He continued to pelt her guarding arm, threatening to break bones. “WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT LAYING A HAND ON HER?! YOU MADE HER CRY, YOU SHITTY LITTLE BASTARD!!”

He reared back for a devastating hook, but Jun’s adrenaline kicked in and gave her the sense to duck her head right before impact, grazing her temple with a gash. Now in a rage herself, she yelled back at him. “I HAD TO BREAK HER HEART!”

“I’LL BREAK **YOU!** ” He swung again, but Jun kicked out with her foot, stopping the motion. Her necktie cinched tight, causing static to encircle her field of vision. She pulled up with fervent desperation for one last attempt at an explanation.

“I WASN’T IN LOVE WITH HER, RYO! I WAS IN LOVE WITH YOU!” Her heart sank as the words left her mouth.

All he could do was stand there frozen, the blinding rage shifting to utter disgust. He dropped her to the ground, leaving her coughing for breath. A single word grated from his ragged throat.

“LEAVE...”

Kumi had raced down the stairs crying earlier, begging unheard for him to stop, but now she, too, was staring in disbelief. The pieces fell into place, with the final one being the words Jun was trying to say before getting knocked over.

“Wait! Jun was trying to say something earlier!” She pleaded as he went for the stairs.

“Just leave him. If that little prick ever shows his face around here again...” He clenched his fists as he started up the steps.

Jun stood up from sheer determination to finish her confession. With a deep breath, she shouted with all of her might.

“I AM A WOMAN!!”

Ryo slowly turned his head to face the broken Jun. “You don’t look like one.”

Jun’s rage surged. “I DON’T LOOK LIKE—!!!” She ripped the vest off and threw it to the ground, the tie following soon after. When she popped the buttons on her shirt ripping it off as well, the Mashiba siblings started realizing what was going on. She pulled off her undershirt, then the waist padding went up over her head, revealing a trim and toned feminine midsection. It was only when she started wrestling with her chest bandages that Kumi yelled after her to stop. She ran over, trying to calm her down.

“My name is Tagawa JUNKO!” She yelled in Ryo’s direction, squeezing her eyes tight. His only response was to stare back, agape. He finally looked away, leaving the staircase for the street, muttering words of disbelief.

Kumi held up the panting woman, frantic that her brother was abandoning her. “Onii-chan, wait!!”

He yelled out before running off. “YOU handle this!”

Kumi could only look on in crestfallen bewilderment. Jun struggled free and ambled over to the shrubbery.

“Jun… Junko?” She asked, acclimating to the change.

The battered woman propped herself against the wall before vomiting up her dinner.

Kumi had a pinched expression, wishing that the evening could’ve ended on a different note, for everyone’s sake. When Jun finished heaving, Kumi had collected the torn articles of clothing and put a gentle hand on Jun’s shoulder. “Come inside. I’ll help clean you up.”

The apartment still held the aroma of the lavender and jasmine sitting on the table. When Jun opted to go for the sink instead of sitting on the floor, Kumi protested. “Please rest! You might have a concussion...”

Jun rinsed her mouth out at the sink and drank some water in case she had to throw up again, letting the rest of the water cool off her arm. “I… I think I’m alright. I mostly got sick because of nerves.”

Kumi guided her back into the living room and sat her down. Jun complied with the vision tests to make sure she was cognizant, and wasn’t fazed much when her orbital bone was checked for fracture.

“You seem to be functioning properly, swelling aside...” Kumi trailed off, going to the freezer to grab an ice pack.

The right side of Jun’s face was ballooning up, already closing off part of her vision. The blood from her temple had dripped all the way down to her chin. Kumi gave her the ice pack wrapped in a paper towel and went to the bathroom to get supplies. She was most of the way through dressing the wounds when Jun weakly spoke up.

“I know this is a bit much, but… can I please take off these chest bandages? They hurt...”

Kumi blinked, caught off guard by her twinge of embarrassment. “Um… would you like a different shirt as well?”

“Yes, please.”

Kumi went to her room to search for an old t-shirt. While digging around, she found an old sports bra and decided to bring it out, too.

“Would you want this?”

Jun’s eyebrow raised. “Oh! Uh, I guess, if it fits, and if it’s okay with you...” She was still in a bit of a daze. “I’m… sorry, but… I need some help.”

Jun had managed to yank the bandages so tight that Kumi had to cut her free from them. When the snipped wrappings draped into her covering arms, Jun let out a huge sigh of relief. “Man… I think that hurt worse than the punches!” She rubbed the soreness out of her breasts before putting the bra on.

“It’s a little loose, but it’ll do. Thank you.”

Kumi could only watch in detached amazement. “...You really did fool us all.”

Jun hesitated a moment before putting the shirt on. “I’m surprised I could for this long.” Jun rubbed at the bruises on her forearm. “You seem awfully calm about all of this.”

Kumi gave a weak shake of her head. “Shock, I think. As a nurse, I’ve seen much weirder things, though.”

Jun still felt ashamed. “I’m so sorry, Kumi-san. I… I didn’t mean to lead you on. Everything felt platonic from the inside, even though people tried to warn me. But you were right. I was using you, just not for practice. I wanted an excuse to get close to your brother that didn’t involve boxing. I’m so sorry, Kumi-san. I deserve all of this.”

“No, you don’t!” Kumi took a moment to calm herself down. “I know it’s rude to say this, but… why my brother? You were living with Ippo this whole time…!” The realization made her face burn bright.

Jun pathetically laughed. “I’m going to get asked that a LOT. For the record, nothing happened between us. I made sure to stay out of his business and did everything I could to hide my own. As for attraction, Ippo’s a cute kid, but I was wanting a MAN.”

Jun felt the blood pressure build in her neck from that blunt admission to Kumi’s face, causing her nose to bleed some. Kumi handed her a tissue plus extra to put in her pocket. “Uh, that is, your brother has more of a quiet, mature nature. There were more reasons why l liked him, but I already went on at length about it earlier...” Jun pulled the medallions from her wallet. The one of Kumi had broken on impact from the concrete barrier.

“Oh no…! Your little cameo...”

Jun shrugged. “It’s okay. I can make another one.” Her thumb felt the contours of the roughed out shape on Ryo’s medallion. “Listen. If there’s anything else you need to talk about, it’s best to do so tonight. I get the feeling that I won’t be welcome here anymore.”

They talked at length, covering most of the questions that Jun was expecting to answer and a few she wasn’t. The one that got her stumped was what to do now.

“I really don’t know, Kumi-san. All I could figure out was that I would do my best to deal with the ensuing chaos, whatever it may be.”

“Could you do me a favor, then?” Kumi asked. “Please, Junko… Don’t tell Makunouchi-san I tried to kiss you...”

Jun had returned the ice pack to her head. “That won’t matter much. People will assume something happened just from context clues. I will try to avoid giving out details, though.” Thinking about how the rumor mill tends to work, she face palmed with her free hand. “Ugh, that’s right. Even if I don’t say anything at all, the gossip is going to spread like wildfire.” Kumi held a fist to her mouth, tempted to bite the knuckle out of anxiety. Jun pulled the ice pack from her face to speak clearly. “Hey, I want you to know this – and tell your brother, too – that I’m willing to take the fall for what happened. If anyone pesters you about it, you just tell them that I was harassing you and your brother defended you.”

She winced. “But that’s not what happened!”

Jun could only feel wretched for what she had to say. “Are you sure about that? I grabbed you, yelled at you, kept you from entering the apartment, and I broke your heart. … and I broke mine, too.”

Kumi fought back the tears that teased to form.

Jun continued. “I know what happened on the stairs wasn’t entirely my fault, but… I still don’t blame him for hitting me.”

Kumi’s eyes welled up. “How can you say that!? He should have talked to you first!”

Jun was fighting off her own tears. “He did warn me. Multiple times. I knew to take him seriously, because I had sparred with him before and knew how hard he could hit even when he wasn’t trying.”

She felt betrayed. “You SPARRED with him!? Why??”

The ice pack went back on, partially to abate the throbbing from strong emotions. “I wanted to face my fears. I wanted to prepare myself for the worst possible outcome. Looking back, doing that was probably what saved my life tonight.”

“But… but he caught you off guard! You didn’t even know he was coming to get you...”

Jun’s good eye shone with severity. “I DID know he was coming. He had been following us the whole evening, just like he said he would.” Jun waved her hand, knowing what question was coming up. “I slipped up and mentioned the fair, not even realizing it was a date until I said it. He was pissed, so I invited him to come with us— rude, for your end of the deal, but I was looking at it as something that I would have wanted. He declined, but said that he would keep an eye on us.” She sighed. “I knew he was coming, I just didn’t know when.”

Kumi was furious with her brother. “Then why didn’t he just come with us if he was going to be like that!!?”

Jun clenched her jaw, upset at herself for not seeing it before. “… I think, he was willing to accept me. To accept us, together. He wanted to give us a chance at SOME privacy, but nothing too far. He probably lost it when you slapped me, because only someone hurting his sister would get that treatment… and I hurt you in the worst way possible.” It was too much for her. Kumi broke down sobbing. At first, Jun felt like she had already done enough damage and thought she should stay put, but in the end she gingerly put her arms around Kumi’s shoulders and gave her a comforting hug. “If it’s any consolation, there’s something I learned a long time ago. Whenever someone wants to truly hurt you, they won’t care if you’re a boy, a girl, a child, or an adult. They don’t have to use their fists to hurt you, either. In fact, it’s worse with words because they aren’t just hurting you with a part of themselves, they’re hurting you with everything they are. But there’s something else that I’ve learned along the way. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but only if you’re given the chance to heal first… and if you learn from your mistakes, too.” Jun leaned back to look her in the eyes. “I want to fix my mistakes and I want to give you two some time to heal. Would you be willing to forgive this cross dressing asshole for lying to you guys for so long? Even if it takes years of rebuilding trust and hundreds of onigiri?”

Kumi wiped the tears from her face, hinting a smile. “… Yes. Of course, you weirdo!” She lightly bapped her on the arm. Jun faked a deep groan of pain and went into over-the-top theatrics, making Kumi start laughing past the sniffles.

Jun went back to a sincere tone after the laughter died down. “Thank you, Kumi-san. I know you want to be mad at your brother, and I don’t blame you, but give him some space. He’s probably hurting as well.”

“You really do care about him a lot, don’t you?”

Jun solemnly nodded. “Yeah… I’m going to need some space for a while myself, though.” She straightened herself up and let out a deep breath. “Thank you so much for listening to me, and tending to my wounds, Kumi-san. If I may ask, I would like to use your phone for a little bit. Since I’m in no condition to walk home, I’ll take a cab.”

“Of course. Do you need fare?” Kumi glanced down at the pile of torn clothes.

Jun checked her wallet. “I should have enough.” Remembering the medallions, she pulled them from her slacks pocket and set them on the glass end table. Kumi had started to fold the clothes as best as she could.

The number for the cab stand was listed along with other emergency contacts, and Jun scheduled a pickup. As soon as she finished the call, she dialed up Ippo’s place. When he came to the phone, Jun gave him a terse message.

“Hey, it’s Tagawa. I need you to call up Aoki, Kimura, and Takamura as soon as you can and have everyone meet at the park down from the gym. Yeah, you’re coming, too. It’s an emergency meeting.” She hung up before Ippo could ask any questions. Kumi stared back at her, wide eyed.

Jun could only sigh and briefly explain before heading out the door. “Kumi-san, I don’t want to lie anymore, and word WILL spread fast since I have to report back to the Makunouchi household anyway, but I also don’t want to repeat myself half a dozen times. I’d much rather they get their information from a first hand source. I’ll do my best to keep you and Ryo out of the conversation, though. Goodbye, Kumi-san. Take care, and I hope to see you again sometime after this blows over.”

They waved their goodbyes and she left. Still reeling from the events, Kumi thought that perhaps she should get the clothes cleaned and mended, simply because they did still belong to Jun. Holding the peacoat jacket with spots of blood on it, she felt something hiding in one of the pockets. It was her carving knife. Out of spite, she uncapped the blade and cut a crude, grumpy expression into the blank of Ryo before she dropped the knife on the table and held her face in her hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • The plan was for Jun to go on the date, wait for Ryo to arrive, tell them the truth, and then retrieve her belongings before saying goodbye to the Makunouchi family and taking an express train back to Sendai to obtain her documentation. Nothing’s ever easy, is it?  
>  • Ryo was indeed behind the partition, getting rather embarrassed from all of Jun’s lauding. He did sour at the realization that Jun once again brought a knife.  
>  • The much shorter alternative to the landing scene is that Kumi figured out that Jun was a woman, but kissed her anyway, leaving both Ryo and Ippo empty handed while the girls skip off into the sunset. Ouch.  
>  • If the sparring session was in Jun’s top ten list of times she was horribly beaten, then Ryo’s rage fit was in the top 3. There was a piece of backstory left out where during their post-spar walk, Jun talked about how her mother had beaten her so badly at 8 years old that she had to go to the hospital, but she was forced to rehearse a lie about falling out of a tree before taking her there, which takes the #1 spot.


	15. HUNKERED DOWN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARN- Ugh, you get it.  
> So, yeeeah... sensitive topics in this one. Don't worry, all things shall pass! They may pass like a kidney stone, but they will pass!  
> \-----

When the cab dropped her off at the park, the driver asked to make sure she wanted to stop here at night. She verified, saying that she had to talk to some people first.

“You be careful then, young lady. Uh… you don’t have to worry about the fare.”

Jun thought that this was a sweet gesture, but she didn’t feel right about it. She handed him a couple of bills, regardless. “In that case, would you take a bribe? You didn’t see me tonight...”

He eyed her suspiciously, but took the money anyway and drove off.

It was now dusk, and the park was quiet. She found the nearest large tree and painfully climbed it, hiding among the thick splayed branches and new foliage. From there, she waited.

Ten minutes later, Ippo arrived. He wandered the park, confused and calling out for her.

“I’m up here,” she blandly yelled.

Ippo looked confused, but relieved. “Oh, there you are! … Why are you up there?”

“Waiting, safely.”

He didn’t like how that sounded. “W-we were getting worried. You didn’t tell us where you were going, and normally you’re home by now… did something happen?”

Jun was still in the shadows of the tree. She sighed heavily. “You could say that.”

“Do… do you want to come down? Or do you need any help?” Ippo floundered for something to say.

She watched the streets. “Do you remember that favor you promised me the first time we visited Kumi-san’s house?”

The question didn’t help calm his nerves. “Y-yeah…”

“The favor I need is that you to act as a mediator, and don’t let them touch me. Just keep quiet unless you absolutely have to say something, but let me do most of the talking, okay?”

“Oh… okay...” He fidgeted, then started shadow boxing to ease his nerves. Jun watched from above as he practiced on the equipment. She wanted to join him in easing her own anxiety.

Over the next half hour, the other three filtered in, with Takamura last to join.

“Oi, oi! What the hell are you doing, calling us out here at night?” Takamura seemed agitated, but with a hint of worry.

Remembering the favor, Ippo simply pointed up at the tree, where only Jun’s leg was visible in the lamplight.

“What’s he doing up there? HEY, TAGAWA-KUN! YOU OKAY, BUD?” Aoki yelled.

“… I messed up, guys. I mean, I knew I would in a way, but not this badly.” She peered her bandaged face out from the shadows, her right eye swollen over. Everyone but Takamura showed an expression of unfortunate sympathy.

“This is the emergency?? Who’d you mouth off to this time, Himomame-kun?” Takamura blurted.

Jun rolled her eye skyward. “Actually, the physical damage isn’t the problem. I called an emergency meeting because… I can’t in good conscience stay at Ippo’s house anymore. I have to leave. Tonight.”

Kimura turned to Ippo, sounding appalled. “What did you DO to him, man?!”

Ippo panicked. “That wasn’t me!! I don’t know what’s going on, honest!!”

Aoki was pained with confusion. “Does this have something to do with your decision? Are you going to a different gym or something??”

Jun watched them for a second before begrudgingly climbing down. When she stepped out from the shadows, Everyone grew a shocked expression. Takamura was growing something else as well.

The blushing made her face hurt, but she did her best to smile. Wearing a snug women’s t-shirt with a dancing cake mascot stretched across her now obvious chest, she waved a hand. “Hi! I’m Tagawa Jun, but you can call me… Junko.”

It took a few seconds of stunned silence before the lid blew on the boiling pot of questions and profanity-laced hysterics from the crew. At first they attacked Ippo for keeping this a secret from them, but she stepped in to cut that bullshit before it smeared.

“HEY! He didn’t know anything about this, and I worked hard to keep it that way. Trust me, you would have heard about it a lot sooner if he did.” She pointed at Ippo, who was turning bright red, mentally sorting through the memories of the past six months.

Takamura yelled, the veins bulging in his neck. “WE SAW YOUR DICK!!”

“Oh, my dick… You mean my little wooden carving? I still have it tucked away in my duffel. Word of advice: don’t use pine sap as glue on your nether region, ever.”

The gears clicked in their heads. Aoki couldn’t believe it. “That… was fake?”

She undid the button on her slacks. “What, you want me to show you the proof?”

Kimura and Takamura shouted in unison. “YES!!”

Aoki and especially Ippo, also shouted in unison. “NO!!”

She buttoned up her pants, but tugged at her shirt instead. “I mean, you all have seen me naked before, and I’ve seen you guys naked before… It’s only fair you get to see how much I’ve improved in six months...”

They all turned a different intensity of red with that reminder. Takamura clamped a hand down on the necks of Aoki and Ippo, forcing them to watch. “YES, IT’S ONLY FAIR.”

She slowly crept the shirt up her body. Ippo did not want to see his roommate like this, and Aoki was petrified over what Tomiko was going to do to him when she would inevitably find out. Takamura didn’t care, and whispered to the both of them. “Gentlemen, you are about to witness a miracle.”

The further the shirt went up, the more tense the group got. When round flesh peeked out from under the loose bra, their eyes went wide and jaws started to drop.

“Psyche! Gotcha!” She lowered the shirt back over her boobs. She couldn’t help but cackle as they realized they had been pranked. “AHAHAHAAA! OH MY GOD, LOOK AT ALL OF YOU, PITCHING TENTS!! AAAHAHAHA!”

Takamura released Ippo’s neck, who’s spine went to jelly. He jutted an accusing finger at her.

“DON’T COCK TEASE US, YOU—”

She pulled her shirt completely off – just her shirt— and flexed her muscles. “Not bad since you last saw me, huh?”

The view shut Takamura up. Everyone became rather impressed, remembering how deathly skinny she was before.

“Wow! You, uh… you’ve really filled out!” Kimura tried to sound positive while fighting off his confused boner.

“I guess you could say that this is my apology for lying to everyone for so long.” Despite her damage, she smiled wide and lightly bounced on the balls of her feet. “Uwaaah, I didn’t think I would be so happy about this! I’ve never been this healthy in my life, and it feels good to no longer hide who I am!” She knelt on the ground to give a gracious bow. “Thank you so much for helping me grow strong, and for not getting angry at me to the point of chasing me out of town!” She stood up and put the shirt back on.

“We wouldn’t do that to you, Tagawa-kun! You’re part of the Kamogawa family!” Aoki waved his hand dismissively.

“I don’t think Coach will agree on that...” She hung her head.

They went silent, wondering if Coach would be too set in his ways to let a woman into the gym, especially one that teased being his newest pro boxer addition. Takamura didn’t think too hard on it.

“Ah, don’t let it get to you! You’re always welcome to join us with full use of the showers!”

They all checked to see that he was, in fact, serious.

“So what are you going to do now?” Kimura asked as a redirection.

“Well, my decision was originally about whether or not I would stay in Tokyo, and since I’ve made so many friends here, I’ve decided to try and set down roots. I was hoping to have everything worked out by now, but clearly that wasn’t happening. I can’t stay at Ippo’s place any more because, well, this,” she motioned to her chest, “and I’m worried I’ll freak out the customers, so as of today, I’m quitting my job. I’ll either have to stay at a hotel or go camping tonight.”

“You can stay at my apartment!” Takamura practically sang.

Kimura tried as well. “You can stay with me at my… parents’ place...”

“Maybe you can spend the night at Tomiko’s apartment?” Aoki thought.

The other two glared at him. Takamura was ready to punt-kick him between the swing sets like a soccer ball. “YOU GREEDY LITTLE ASSHOLE! You think you get to have TWO women to play with!?”

Before Takamura could put Aoki in a headlock, Jun proposed an addendum. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Maybe Aoki can spend the night with Kimura, if that’s an issue?”

Aoki had ducked the assault and corrected the misunderstanding. “I have my own apartment, Tomiko has hers! Bunch’a asswipes...”

“My belongings are still over at Ippo’s, so I need to grab my duffel. How soon do you think you can call back with an answer?” Jun wondered.

Aoki snapped back to attention. “Hm? I dunno, maybe an hour?”

She nodded. “Alright. If we don’t get a call by 10, I’ll head out on my own.”

Kimura couldn’t help but prod. “So who gave you the bruises?”

 _You prying motherfucker…_ Jun had to control herself very carefully at this point, but even she was too tired to pull a fully convincing bluff. “Like Takamura said, I pissed someone off and paid for it.”

He gave her a dirty look. “I don’t think you’re listening. WHO gave you the bruises?”

Even Ippo had to look at her in silent concern.

She felt her face throb with the heat. “It’s none of your business.”

“Oh come on, Tagawa-kun! We’ll beat up the piece of shit who did this to you!” Aoki pounded his knuckles into his hand, a vein bulging in his forehead. “There’s four of us, right?”

Jun looked at each of their faces, trying to think up of what to say that wasn’t a complete lie. She was so tired of lies. She couldn’t think fast enough before Kimura put together the clues from the past, his face falling in sickened horror.

“Mashiba did this.”

She didn’t want to say anything, but when all of their faces displayed the same grim realization, she had to put a stop to it.

“Shut up, Kimura! I’m done dealing with bullshit tonight, and I’m not about to get all of my friends in trouble just because I was a rude dumbass. I’m tired, I’m getting hungry, and I just want to sleep off this damage before getting into the details, okay? It’s… it’s going to take a lot of energy for me to talk about what happened, but I can tell you this right now: I instigated it, and I paid for it. Like I said, I fucked up badly.” She huffed.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay, Tagawa-san?” Ippo timidly asked.

She relaxed her posture a bit, even going so far as throwing a few punches. “Don’t worry, this isn’t the first time I’ve taken a beating. I can enjoy a good spar, but tonight was a bit too much.”

They eyed the heavily bruised arm in comparison to the near spotless one, but no one felt the need to press the issue anymore.

She gave a small bow to show her gratitude. “Thanks to your training though, I’ve gotten a lot stronger! If you need to, you can tell Kamogawa the news, but I would rather be the messenger. It’s going to be a while before I have the energy to stand up to him, but I promise I’ll be back!”

They looked at her with differing levels of concern, but the consensus was in, and they nodded.

“Take care of yourself, Tagawa-kun!” Aoki smiled. A few seconds passed before he remembered his important mission. “Right! Tomiko! I’ll call her right away!” He ran off into the night.

“I’ll walk you back to the house, Tagawa-san.” Ippo offered his arm, but she waved it down as unnecessary. Everyone started to part ways.

While Ippo went ahead down the street, Jun took the opportunity to pay her dues before Kimura and Takamura left.

“Hey!” She called out, grabbing their attention. She undid her pants and yanked down her underwear just enough to expose her penis-absent crotch, much to their astonishment. “Now we’re even!” She pulled everything back up, flipped them off, and caught up with Ippo.

The two of them stood there, shedding a single manly tear over their sudden erections.

“It’s a good thing we don’t have fights lined up,” Kimura stated with a pervy grin. Takamura nodded.

The first leg of the walk back home was done in almost complete silence. Jun was exhausted, and Ippo felt reluctant to ask any questions. Still, the further they walked, the more Jun became uncomfortable. She finally broke the silence.

“You can talk now, if you want.”

Startled, he waved his hand in a declining fashion. “Oh! Uh, it’s okay! I know you’re tired, so I’ll wait until later.”

“Ippo… how are you not upset with me right now?”

He was confused, but starting to understand why she would think that. “I’m not upset! … I mean, it’s… it’s really… it’s unsettling news, yes, but I’m not angry with you...” He looked to the sidewalk. “… Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

She let out a deep breath in thought. “Long before I arrived in Tokyo, any time I said I was a woman, people wanted proof. When I started acting like a man, they had an easier time believing the lie. It was habit by the time I arrived at the gym, and when I realized I had a good thing going, I wanted to keep it moving until the threat of winter was over...”

He thought back to when she was skeletal, scared, and homeless, and her explanation made sense.

The silence continued to nag at her. “Did I really do that good of a job hiding?”

Ippo started to blush. “Yes! You… you don’t behave like a regular girl. You kept up with your training every day. You were tough and intimidating, even scary at times! Your hands are rough, your voice isn’t – wasn’t very feminine, you use rude language, and you get angry easily. You also said you like … fierce women...”

Jun corrected him. “I said I like fierce ONES, not fierce women.”

He started to turn a deeper shade of crimson. “S-so… you do … like... m-men, then?”

The swelling on her face started to throb again. All she could do was solemnly nod.

“…And you really have, uh…” Ippo made bumping motions with his hands once again.

“With guys, yes.”

Ippo’s mind raced through their history again, thinking about all the different times she could have taken him by surprise. The times they were in his room alone together outpaced the months she was living at the house. He ran his fingers through his hair, not wanting to make eye contact. It wasn’t until he heard quiet sobbing that he turned to look at her.

“I-I’m sorry, Tagawa-san! I shouldn’t be asking such questions! I didn’t mean to, umm…” There were too many aspects he wanted to apologize for, but now he was distracted by her breakdown. “I s-swear, I didn’t mean to embarrass you! If I had known, I would have never… uhhh...” There were too many embarrassing instances for him to apologize over. “I wasn’t saying I wanted t-to...” He could feel the hole digging itself around him as her crying got worse. It was only when she responded that all of the embarrassment stopped cold.

“Ryo-chan...”

His throat went dry. “What? Tagawa-san… Did… Did Mashiba-san really do this to you?”

All she could do was sniffle and slowly nod her head.

He couldn’t take it. “ _A good spar?” “A bit too much??” This wasn’t from sparring! He BEAT her! Or worse…!!_ It suddenly clicked in his mind. The clothes that weren’t hers, her reluctance to answer questions, her reveal coinciding with physical abuse, how she started crying when he brought up sex… He grabbed her by the shoulders to look her in the eye. “Tagawa-san!”

The sudden grasp and Ippo’s angry face reminded Jun of her nightmare, combining with the fresh memory of getting beaten in the street. She whipped out of his grasp, clearly frightened.

Her reaction cinched it for him. He didn’t want to think about it earlier, but now… It was bad enough that the man had hurt Miyata, ruined their promise to meet in the ring, and broke the bones in his hand with a cheap move, but to do this to a young girl… The disgust became unbearable as he suddenly feared for Kumi. The anger clouded his attention to where he didn’t even notice Jun’s quick recovery.

“...Sorry… you scared me.” She sniffed.

He wasn’t listening. With his hands free, they clenched up tight and trembled with livid blood lust.

“Tagawa-san, you need to report him to the police. If he’s... raping women...” The anger choked at his throat.

Jun’s brain stalled. “What.”

He looked up at her with a quiet inferno burning in his eyes. “I need to pay him a visit.”

The synapses finally jump started her into firefighter mode, frantically trying to calm him down and herself in the process. “WHOA, WHOA, WAIT A MINUTE! I never said anything about rape! He still thought I was a man when he beat me up.”

“That’s still a horrible thing to do!” He spat, not wanting to look into her broken face any more.

She held his face in her hands and pulled him forward, forcing a gentle eye contact. “Ippo… I need to make a full confession. Will you please listen?” She mustered up as much energy as she could to recount what happened during the day, from her decision to dress up in a suit, how the outing went, knowing she was being watched, how things got awkward when Kumi saved her from falling down the steps, and when everything spiraled into an embarrassing and painful mess at the end. There was a key detail that hadn’t occurred to her until she spoke it out loud, sending her back into tears. “When he started beating me, I knew I had to tell him the truth, because if I didn’t, I was afraid he was going to knock me unconscious and I might not wake up… I had to tell him that I WASN’T in love with Kumi. I was in love with him!”

As she cried, Ippo didn’t know whether to feel hurt that she kept so many secrets, upset that she got herself into this position, angry at Mashiba for losing his temper, sickened confusion over her choice of love interest, or relief that not only did Jun come out of it alive, but that she was never a threat to his relationship with Kumi to begin with. The last thing that tugged at his thoughts was how easily it could have been him in that situation with Kumi, except there would have been nothing he could ever say that would’ve stopped Mashiba’s rage.

Jun took a breath and calmed herself a bit. “After I said that, he just dropped me in the street, making it clear that he never wanted to see me again. That’s when I told him I was a woman, but he didn’t believe me! So I tore at my clothes until they saw the binding bandages...” She calmed herself down again, wiping her face. “He told Kumi to take care of me and he ran off, and she took me in and cleaned me up, letting me borrow her clothes. And that’s when I called you...” The guilt crushed at her chest once more. “How are you not angry with me!? When everyone warned me not to get too close? How are you not pissed off at me for accepting a date with Kumi in the first place!? … Why aren’t you smacking me around too, like everyone else does??” She weakly thumped his chest with her fist. “Why can’t you just finish what he started!?”

He fought the knot in his throat. “Because people who care about you shouldn’t treat you like that, ever, Tagawa-san.”

The implications scored her heart, but she finally admitted to herself that he was right. She had given up the last of her emotional strength and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. He wasn’t sure what to do, since he wasn’t used to comforting women, much less abused ones. Nervously, he put his arms around her too, eventually realizing that she did indeed need a hug and pulled her close. Her body was wracked with sorrowful tremors, and Ippo could no longer hold back his own tears. For what felt like ages, she howled out her sorrowful cries.

The anguish slowly worked its way out of her system. By the end, she wanted to curl up in his warmth and fall asleep, pretending that this was all just a nightmare. As the bitter sobbing subsided, she felt weak, vulnerable, and empty. His strong arms around her waist gave her comfort, but soon elicited a different feeling. With her emotions cranked up to high, she became incredibly sensitive to his touch. His hands on her back, his chest meeting hers, and soon, she pulled him even tighter that their hips caressed. Ippo was also noticing the shift from heart rending anguish to a sensuous desire to comfort her. However for him, he wasn’t completely destroyed from the day’s events, and still had plenty of self-awareness to know that something wasn’t right.

“T-Tagawa-san? Are.. are you going to be okay?”

She lilted the undamaged side of her face to his, brushing his cheek. “...No. I had a feeling this would happen...” Her eyes were deadened, burnt out from emotional overload. She moved her hands slowly along his back, and he could feel her muscles tense against his arms. He started to get a twinge in his loins. “This is why I didn’t want to stay tonight. I’m… I’m lonely, Ippo. I’ve been lonely for more than a year now. I’ve kept everyone at arm’s length for so long… So many times, I wanted to give you guys a hug, thank everyone for what they’ve done to help me… and I’ve wanted to thank you, too...” The questions he asked her earlier rang in his ears like a gong. He stood to attention at her words, in more than one way. She leaned into his growing erection, now clenching her fingers into his shirt, fighting off the hormonal cramp that shook her body. The tears quietly streamed down her cheeks once more. “I’m afraid, Ippo. I’m afraid I’m going to do something horribly stupid, and make things even worse. I’m afraid I’ll want to get revenge on him. I… I’m afraid I’ll...”

Ippo was paralyzed by his own primal urges. As much as his brain protested that what was going on was not only completely wrong but hypocritical against his earlier rage, his body still wanted to answer the call of hers. He forced himself to focus on her words, not her actions, as a cry for help. She started to move her face back, their tear trails crossing over as her lips traced his cheek. But in that instant, she pushed him away and slapped herself across the swollen side of her face as hard as she could. She snarled, but that wasn’t good enough. She grabbed at her bruised forearm and squeezed hard, making herself hiss with pain. All Ippo could do was watch in startling realization that she was pulling herself back into control using pain. Gradually, her breathing evened out and she released her grip. Sweat started to break out on her forehead. She physically clammed up in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, Ippo. I’m not… I’m not really sexually attracted to you, but… please forgive me for putting you in this situation. I… I had a moment of weakness. I’m sorry.”

He had clasped his hands in front of him, hoping it would be enough to hide the bulge. He cleared his throat and nervously smiled.

“Ah… y… yeah, It’s okay... Excuse me for a moment...” He turned around and punched his junk. With a brief shiver of pain, he straightened himself out and turned back with a pale pallor. “I… I know how you feel...”

She couldn’t help but grin a little. “Please don’t go telling people about this. If anyone asks, you just gave me a hug, okay?” She pulled out the extra tissues from her pocket and blew her nose with it.

He nodded with full energy, wiping his own face before they continued down in front of the closed shops.

They weren’t far from the house when Jun stopped cold.

“Is something wrong, Tagawa-san?”

She started to tremble again. “I can’t. I can’t face her like this...”

Ippo, with his own sad expression, gauged her response. He put a hand on her shoulder. “You can get through this. You’ve already been through much worse, and if I can understand what’s happened, then so can my mom.”

It took some effort, but she managed to move forward. At the house, both Umezawa and Hiroko were waiting by the doorway. From a distance, they could see that Jun was hurt. Umezawa ran up to them.

“What the hell happened to – WHOA! UMM…???” Of course, he couldn’t help but notice the two new additions to the family. He awkwardly followed Jun and Ippo to the house.

Hiroko’s concern changed to surprise as well, but only mildly so. She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket, briefly glancing down at it before returning her gaze.

“Junko… Are you going to be alright?”

Jun was already feeling dehydrated, but more tears welled up in her eyes, regardless. They all went inside, where Jun once again told her story, but staying quiet about the open admission of love. During the Q&A session over dinner leftovers, Aoki had indeed called back. Tomiko was filled in on what happened and was willing to offer room and board free for the night. Umezawa gave her words of encouragement before leaving. One thing that Jun was dreading had finally come to pass: Hiroko had pulled her aside to ask some difficult questions about any involvement with her son that she needed to know. Jun told everything she could recollect about the different awkward moments and the erotic statue carving – but no fooling around – in which Hiroko provided comfort with a few of her own awkward stories about her son growing up. Jun also explained what happened with washing the futon at four in the morning, and they briefly exchanged menstrual horror stories. In the end, Hiroko felt secure that Jun was telling the truth.

“I’m going to miss our talks in the morning. You were always so thoughtful.” Hiroko gave her a hug.

Jun was already missing her. “I’m so sorry… I wanted to tell you my secret so many times, but I was afraid you would be angry with me and kick me back out on the streets.”

She gave Jun an extra squeeze. “I would never do such a thing. You’ve helped us out in more ways than you know, and I would make sure you were taken care of.”

Jun buried her tears into Hiroko’s shoulder. “Thank you so much for all of your help. As much as I wish I could stay, I can’t. Not if I want to test these wings you gave me.”

Hiroko gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I understand. Still, you be careful, Tagawa-kun. And make sure to visit often. You’re like family now!”

Jun smiled warmly. “I’ll do my best.” Her smile waned at the thought of her own mother. “Speaking of family, if a large woman by the name of Tagawa Mizuno ever stops by… call the police.”

It was getting late, and Ippo helped pull the duffel down from the roof before Aoki arrived on the motorcycle he borrowed from work. She said her goodbyes, and was on her way to Tomiko’s place.

By the time they had arrived, Jun was ready to knock out. Tomiko, on the other hand, was brimming with energetic curiosity and asked a barrage of questions. It didn’t take long for Jun to pass out in the living room, where Aoki helped carry her over to the spare futon. She was sound asleep, and didn’t even notice that Aoki’s goodnight kiss to Tomiko turned to fondling, and then a quickie in the bedroom.

A loud knock on the front door did little to stir Jun awake. It wasn’t until she heard unfamiliar voices pestering Tomiko that she woke up to daylight in an unfamiliar apartment. The soreness in her body and the grogginess in her head had to take a backseat to the adrenaline rush from the current predicament. Strangers were trying to force tape recorders through the gap in the door, with only a bolt chain keeping them at bay.

“But Miss, we want to talk to the kid who was assaulted by the junior lightweight champion!”

“Hey hey, did you see what happened that night? Tell us what you can, and we’ll give you a cash reward!”

Jun hadn’t even thought about the notion of reporters swarming in like flies on shit. _How did they get here so fast!? Who tipped them off??_ She scrambled out of bed, focusing on the more important problem at hand. Thankfully, Jun’s position in the apartment allowed her to sneak up behind the door. She motioned to Tomiko.

“MOVE.”

She backed away enough for Jun to kick at the door, bouncing it off the intruding wrists. They whipped back through the door with accompanying yelps of pain. She kicked the door shut right after.

Jun huffed and held her throbbing head. “Dammit, I didn’t account for this. I’m sorry, Tomiko-san, I didn’t mean to drag you into my mess...”

She clutched her robe closed. “I guess it was bound to happen. You do have an unfortunate aura about you.”

Jun wanted to think of a snarky response concerning luck when she heard a clacking sound at the bottom of the door. She got even more pissed off. _The leeches aren’t gone yet…_

She unchained the lock and whipped the door open in a fluid motion. When the two men looked up at her dumbfounded, she kicked one of them in the face and the other in the ass when he tried to run.

“GET OUT OF HERE, YOU GODDAMN PARASITES!!”

The men reasserted themselves in the middle of the hallway, now angered themselves. “Hey, you have no right to be doing that to us! We’re going to call the police if you keep that up!” The bloody-nosed man waved a finger at her.

“Come on, lady! Don’t you want to tell us what happened?” The shorter one rubbed his rump.

Jun, despite wearing the clothes from the previous night, still cut an unnerving silhouette of feral aggression.

“Who sent you piss stains here? How do you even know I exist?” She clenched her fists tight.

“We don’t reveal the names of our contacts, missy!” The taller man pulled out a camera and snapped her photo. “But we DO know ‘The Executioner’ Mashiba Ryo had something to do with this! What did he do, nab you in a back alley or something?”

The photo and accusation set her off. She chased after them, throwing an abandoned tape recorder at their heads.

“IF YOU SHIT-CAKED PUBES PUBLISH A SINGLE GODDAMNED WORD, I SWEAR I WILL CUT YOU DOWN THE MIDDLE AND PEEL YOU LIKE A BANANA!”

The taller man flipped her off before gathering his equipment and scrambling down the stairs with the shorter guy. “You’re crazy, lady!!”

Jun did her best to regain some level of composure when Tomiko ran out into the hallway.

“Tagawa-kun! Are you alright?”

She gingerly held her swollen face, now nearly blinding her with pain. “UUUUuuugh. Did they take a picture of you, too?”

She didn’t know what to say, expecting her to at least answer her question. “I, uh, don’t know? I think I was still mostly hiding in the apartment. Come back inside! You’ve got too much pressure building in your contusion.”

Jun hadn’t noticed that the blood vessels in her nose had burst just from the intense yelling. Tomiko pulled her back inside and put an ice pack over the swollen bruise before bringing out her own medical supplies. Just to herself, Jun was rather thankful to have nurses as friends with well stocked apartments. However, she knew she had to work fast. While Tomiko dressed her wounds, Jun gave her directions on what to do if police arrive or if the reporters come back.

After getting dressed and having a quick breakfast, Jun called up the number for Monthly Boxing Fan and asked for Fujii-san. Using veiled questions, she set up an emergency interview for the afternoon. Her next call was used for the taxi service to schedule an immediate pickup.

“Yeah, that was definitely the girl...” Fujii-san hung up the receiver. His assistant pensively looked at the scrap of paper that had the info called in from last night. He thought he had recognized the name, but still had trouble believing that he was thinking of the same person.

“That still feels weird to say.” He rubbed his knee, trying to keep his leg from bouncing. “I’m just glad Tagawa-san is coming to us. I really didn’t want to have to take a trip over to the Toho gym instead...”

Fujii-san raised his eyebrows, but then closed his eyes and shook his head. “That’s why I tried to get all of our other obligations done first. I know it’s quite tempting to try and get a leg up on the scoop, but we already sent out the final layout to the printers, so it’s almost a moot point.” He took a swig of the remainder of his tepid, morning-aged coffee. “At least this way we can plan it out better and get more accurate information.”

The assistant put the slip of paper down on Fujii-san’s desk and propped his hands in his pockets. “Poor kid, though. At least she made it out alive and kicking.”

“That’s for sure,” Fujii-san assented while refilling his coffee. “Here’s hoping she has some good photos… or at the very least, nothing broken...” He held up his mug in salute.

Before entering the building, Jun rifled through the box of photos one last time to make sure no explicitly candid ones slipped past her first examination. Even though she only had a camera for a few months, she had documented plenty of events from her life as a man. Jun closed the lid and passed through the doors. She was already getting used to people giving her a second, flinched look. Fujii-san and his assistant seemed rather uncomfortable.

“Oof. He really got you one. Is it okay if we record this session?” Fujii-san had his finger poised over his tape recorder.

Jun’s good eye twitched, but she consented. “...Of course someone else informed you. Fine, just don’t make me regret this, okay?”

During the next hour, Jun explained her early history in Sendai, the escape from her drunken and abusive mother, her time wandering the mountains, the six-month journey from skeletal vagrant to outed woman, tying it all together with strictly limited details of the Mashiba siblings’ involvement. Jun noticed that a curious detail wasn’t brought up by the two men: they did admit to getting a tip called in, but they seemed unaware of the majority of that night’s events. She was secretly relieved to suspect that it wasn’t Ippo who called them. Just for curiosity’s sake, she asked when the call came in. Absentmindedly, the assistant went to go check the answering machine in the other room. Jun could hear a brief sample of the recorded voice before it was skipped. The call was made just before 11PM, right around the time that Aoki was picking her up on the motorcycle. Her whole backside went numb when she realized that the one who called was definitely not Kumi or Ryo, or even Takamura. It was Kimura. The bitter resentment was difficult to push aside when the assistant came back to confirm the time.

“That explains how word got out so quickly, I guess.” She vaguely informed that there were now second hand witnesses, and detailed her run-in with the reporters that morning, which made the two of them chuckle at her colorful description of the event.

“Damn! And we were worried you were going to be laid up for a while!” Fujii-san lit up a cigarette.

She rubbed the side of her face. “I will be resting up, but I wanted to get the facts straight to someone I can… hopefully trust.”

Fujii-san rubbed his temple with his free thumb. “As much you’ve told us, there’s quite a yarn to report, but I have to tell you now that your info isn’t going to be our only source, especially now that we know who else to question about it. Other reporters have probably visited the gyms already, if they knew to come to you as well.”

Jun felt sick to her stomach. “Really?? Shit –Oh, sorry about the language.” She motioned to the tape recorder.

The assistant held up some of her photos. “You did give us a good amount of material, though! If you’re willing to sign a release form, we could purchase some of your photos for the article next month.”

She rubbed her face bruise. “Can I at least read what the article will say before I sign?”

“I would hope so… the article’s going to focus on your achievements, after all...” Fujii-san idly sipped his coffee.

Jun had to pause for a second. “… Wait, what?”

Fujii-san spread his hands out in front of him as if displaying the headline. “’Tagawa Junko; From death’s door to female boxing hopeful!’ I think it could grab some eyeballs.”

Jun looked at him with mild panic. “Do you really think people are going to be sympathetic to my story?”

Fujii-san shrugged. “It’s always hard to tell how people will react, but it’s a lot more inspiring than hearing about how Mashiba-san beat up a female transvestite, don’t you think?”

Jun cringed while looking at the running tape recorder. “I guess so. It’s not like I didn’t expect to get caught eventually or take damage, but I was hoping the former wouldn’t coincide with the latter. I don’t want these boxers to be seen as abusers because of what I’ve done. Everyone has been so supportive of me, and I hope that they understand that I’ve been the same person all along. I can take a hit as well as any of the guys, and I can dish it out in my weight class, too. I just wish things could have turned out better...”

Climbing up the stairs back to the apartment, Jun remembered an important detail that she forgot for the morning: she didn’t have a key, and Tomiko had already left for work. There wasn’t much time for her to think about searching for a spare however, because two police officers were standing at the door when she entered the hall.

Her mind and body froze. Even though she knew it was a possibility that they would come, she didn’t think that old instincts would kick in hard and fresh. The moment they saw her and called out to her, she bolted, jumping the stairs in hopes of a fast getaway. With one eye nearly swollen shut, she had forgotten that her depth perception was wrecked. Her foot caught the edge of the last step, causing her to tumble forward and spill photos everywhere. The impact caused her bruises to sear pain all at once. Her brain locked up, seeing all of the familiar faces scattered across the floor. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing everything by running away. She swore she would stay and fight… but she couldn’t do that, either.

It was mere seconds before the police caught up to her and cuffed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Concerning Jun flashing her nethers; to quote the Tank Girl movie, “Whoop, there it is.”  
>  • Jun confiding abuse to Ippo was the first time she had ever done so without repercussion. The realization that everything her life was built upon was wrong, that she doesn’t deserve to get beaten and never did deserve it, just dropped her whole world out from underneath her. It’s a good thing it was Ippo catching her and not Takamura…


	16. TRAP AND RELEASE

Jun had been held for interrogation for ten days. Upon her release, Aoki invited her for ramen at the Chuuka-Soba to celebrate. After walking inside, Jun was greeted by Takamura, Kimura, and Ippo at the counter. Aoki briefly waved while chopping vegetables for the upcoming orders.

“Shit, you look haggard, Himomame-yougisha!” Takamura couldn’t resist combining her insulting nickname with an even more insulting title.

Jun gave a dirty look along with her response. “Hell was offering time shares, and I had to sit through the orientation.” She took her usual seat at the very end, taking a moment to glare at Kimura.

Aoki took the time to congratulate her on getting released from the police station.

“Did you know that Mashiba-san got arrested, too?” Kimura barely managed to stifle his smugness.

“No. I did not.”

“I heard that he was released, though...” Ippo wasn’t about to reveal how he got that information.

Jun rubbed the side of her face out of habit. “All I know is that SOMEONE ratted me out to the gossip rags, and whoever it was, I’ll never forgive them for doing so.” She gave the stink eye down the line while taking a drink, with Ippo looking sad, Kimura suspiciously shrugging his shoulders, and Takamura with a blank expression.

“Oh yeah, the pricks from Salacious and Tenor. They only gave me two thousand between them.” Takamura scratched his head.

Jun nearly choked while slamming down her glass, with everyone else caught off guard by his blatant admission. He even pulled a rolled up magazine from his back pocket to make his point.

“All they did was make some fuss about you being a hard-assed bitch, and a kinky one, too!” He opened it to the article sporting a photo of her and Tomiko standing in the hallway, along with a barely censored photo of Aoki’s face. The headline read: CRAZY WOMAN BEATEN IN BOXING LOVE TRIANGLE!

“WHAT!?” Aoki nearly cut his finger seeing himself and his poor Tomiko get libeled.

“YOUUU BASTARD…” Jun seethed. It was about this time that the guys realized that there was something about the lighting at the Chuuka-soba that really brought out the evil creepiness in her features.

“Hey, hey! No fighting, you hear me?” Aoki’s boss remembered the last time Jun was a patron.

Relaxing her fists, Jun slumped back down at her seat. “I’m too tired, anyway.”

“This should perk you up then, Tagawa-kun!” Aoki smiled as he doled out the bowls of ramen.

“YES, FOOD OF THE GODS!” She dove in like it was her last meal on earth. They couldn’t help but snicker when the piping hot broth put a stop to her impatience.

Kimura quickly finished reading the article before digging in to his own bowl. “At least they printed a disclaimer and obscured the names.”

Ippo gave Takamura a pained look. “I can’t believe you would do that to Tagawa-san...”

“I can.” She interrupted, clicking her chopsticks together. “However, I don’t think anyone had any idea how much of a tangled mess was waiting for me at the police station.”

There was an awkward silence. “We had some idea. There were rumors flying around that you were a crazed serial killer on the run.” Takamura made stabbing motions with his chopsticks.

“The police had questioned all of us after your arrest, asking if you had ever threatened anyone with a knife,” Aoki said in a low voice while swirling his own chef’s knife in the air.

“We tried to vouch for you as best as we could, Tagawa-san,” Ippo bashfully admitted.

Jun wasn’t surprised that such rumors circulated. She carefully chewed her noodles and swallowed hard, thinking how to word her response.

“Yeah, about that. I do have the paperwork proving that I’m not a crazed murderer, but… there’s a sad part to the story.”

They listened in as she took a breath to brace herself. “My interrogation took a while because of three things. One, the assault and battery charge from the reporters, which cleared up pretty quick. Two, the whole Mashiba thing, which took a little longer. However… the third thing, something I wasn’t aware of until they started questioning me, was that I was listed as a missing person, presumed dead, and they wanted to question me… about my mom’s suicide. On the day I ran away...”

Everyone was silent, their appetites suspended. They knew she wasn’t on good terms with her mother, but it was still devastating news. She explained further. “They wanted to make sure I didn’t murder her and stage it to look like a suicide. I told them what I knew… It matched up with the evidence… and they decided that the reason for her death was due to alcoholism, financial stress, and… fear of getting caught abusing her daughter.” She added one last detail before going back to eating. “There was someone, I’m not at liberty to say, who was a potential witness and/or suspect. His lawyer worked out a deal with mine, allowing me a settlement in exchange for a non-disclosure agreement. It sucks, but I wasn’t about to get myself tied up in a legal battle I had no clout in. All I can say about it now is what’s done is done, I’ve said my peace, and I’m ready to move on.”

Everyone began eating again after she clapped her hands twice and bowed. They ate in silence, mired in their own thoughts and questions too sensitive to ask. The heavy atmosphere was getting to be too much for Jun. When she got to the bottom of her bowl, she made a strangely positive observation.

“I do have to say, I’m amazed that nobody found out I was a woman sooner. As much as I like pulling pranks, you could almost say that this was by far my longest running and most successful one ever.”

They all gave her a wide eyed stare except for Takamura, who froze mid-slurp.

Aoki was gobsmacked. “This was all a PRANK!?”

She waved her hands in front of her to calm down their shock. “I didn’t actually say it was a prank! HELL, no! None of that was funny AT ALL during that time, but now that I get to look back and laugh...” She started to snicker.

Kimura gave Ippo a disgusted sneer. “And you LIVED with her, man...”

After a good cackle over Ippo’s sudden embarrassment, Jun continued. “In his defense, I worked hard to cover my tracks and destroy or hide as much evidence as possible. In fact, with Ippo focused almost entirely on work and boxing, he was the easiest one to fool.”

Kimura’s disgust at Ippo’s naivete gave way to curiosity. “Did you have any close calls?”

She gave a wicked smile. “Takamura would know...”

They all looked to him, not really surprised that he would commit some kind of harassment, but it slowly dawned on them that, despite his pervert senses, even he couldn’t figure it out. His anger was ramping up fast.

Jun quickly realized her faux pas in taunting the bull. “Hey, he’s not the only one, alright? Coach gave my arms and legs a squeeze to gauge my muscle growth, and I was ready to put a foot in his face! Trust me, there were many times I could have been one grope, glance, or hospital visit away from blowing my cover!”

Everyone was still reeling that she had mentioned Kamogawa touching her.

Jun set down the money to pay for her bowl. “It’s been fun, but I can’t dick around here for too long. I’ve got a lot of work to do!” She fished around in her pocket. “Speaking of dicking around… Hey Kimura! Catch!”

She tossed something in the air and he instinctively caught it. Opening up his hand, he was horrified to find out that she had thrown him her wooden carving of the micro penis and teeny testicles. He gave a nervous yell, bouncing it out of his hands and into Ippo’s, in which he freaked out and bounced it back over to Kimura, only for it to land with a splash in his ramen bowl, sprinkling his face with broth. Jun was ready to die laughing in the corner, and Takamura was the same way. Kimura and Ippo sat there, wondering what to do with these two.

Settling back into the civilian lifestyle at Tomiko’s apartment, Jun made a list of goals. The first thing she wanted to do was carve out a special piece for her return to Kamogawa Gym. On the following morning, she paid the visit that she promised.

Dressed in sweats and a t-shirt similar to what she wore when she first arrived, She yanked the door open and glanced over at the peg board. Sure enough, her name plate was missing. She opened up at full volume, catching everyone’s attention.

“KAMOGAWA-SAAAAAAN!”

The gym stopped. A few of the guys were happy to see her again, but most simply murmured among themselves. The old man stopped the mitt training and looked over in startled agitation. Jun made a display of putting her brand new, elaborately carved and varnished name plate on the peg board, reading, “Tagawa Jun(ko).” He was far from happy.

“IN MY OFFICE! NOW!!”

Kamogawa proceeded to verbally tear her a few new ones. Once his temper dissipated some, she made her argument for staying. It took a lot of convincing and showing copies of the release paperwork, but Kamogawa finally relented. He allowed her back on the condition of adhering to special guidelines separating her from the shower room and lockers, as well as apologizing to the other gym members for any invasion of privacy. Jun agreed, and new paperwork was produced for her to fill out.

“Do you have any questions?” He gruffly asked.

She tilted her head in thought. “Um, yeah. Did you hear anything from Monthly Boxing Fan?”

Kamogawa gave her a puzzled look.

After explaining the situation with the article, He gave a groan.

“I vaguely remember Fujii-san stopping by after your arrest, but I was busy at the time. I’ll contact him later about permissions. Anything else?”

She felt like now was as good a time as any to address the elephant in the room. “Are there any gyms around here that sponsor female pro or amateur boxers?”

Kamogawa slowly rubbed his face in thought. “As far as I know, there aren’t any in Japan, definitely not this gym. I did hear of one trainer, I think his name is Yamako-san, who was interested in developing a program for women’s boxing. I don’t know much about him, but I’ll see what I can find out.”

Jun was exceedingly grateful for his help, and stashed her bag in Yagi’s office.

It was time for her to shake the rust off and get back into the routine.

For nearly a month, Jun had her nose to the grindstone. Alongside the daily gym visits, she worked on completing her high school equivalence test, studied for her driver’s license, and started taking commissions while working part time at the restaurant. It wasn’t until the release of her article in Monthly Boxing Fan that she realized she needed a break, as well as some closure. At first, she thought she would start carving her idea for the Horseman of Hunger and Desperation as a revenge piece, but her impetus dwindled by the time she set up the wood. She realized quickly that what she was doing was the opposite of closure. It was a daunting project that would serve to be a daily reminder for months to come. She shelved the project and decided on a different approach. Swallowing her pride, she called up Kumi to ask how she was doing. Much to Jun’s surprise, Kumi thought that a girl’s night out for the both of them would be a good idea and set the date.

It was the first time in ages that Jun had dolled herself up even remotely, and never had she gone this far with it, unless wearing a three piece suit counted. Hairspray, makeup, borrowed jewelry, skirt and blouse combination, stockings, and flats completed the look. However, she felt like a clown. It was also irritating that she couldn’t simply do roadwork to get to their apartment, taking a taxi instead. At first she was nervous going up to the apartment, still remembering the previous events vividly, but decided that she wasn’t going to waste energy dwelling on it. She was fairly confident that any feelings she had for Ryo had gone out with the tide.

She rang the doorbell, wondering if she could split an okonomiyaki for dinner. When the door opened, her gaze crawled up the long guy standing in the doorway who smelled of sandalwood. Her heart jumped in her throat upon seeing his wide-eyed face. She weakly smiled and waved. “Hey, Ryo-cha –”

The door slammed shut. She could hear footsteps stomping away. Her posture slouched as she let out a sigh, looking back at the stairs in reconsideration. Instead, she cricked her neck, stood up straight, and kept her finger on the doorbell until the door opened again. This time Kumi answered.

“I’m sorry Tagawa-kun… There’s been a change in plans. Would you like to come in?”

A voice bellowed from the other side of the building. “DON’T YOU DARE LET THAT WOMAN IN MY APARTMENT!”

“It’s OUR apartment!!” Kumi’s eye twitched as she closed the door behind her. “Don’t listen to him. He’s still upset over what happened.”

Jun lowered her eyelids. “So a month was too soon? My apologies, then.” She crossed her arms to seal in the sarcasm.

“Would you like some tea?” Kumi offered.

“Yeah, sure.” Jun went to sit herself down at the table, still trying to figure out the whole skirt situation. She peeked down the hallway to see a door cracked open, sliding just a hair more closed. The notion that her Horseman of Hunger and Desperation was now cowering in his room had pissed her off. She decided to carry a conversation while Kumi was still in the kitchen.

“So how have you been doing? Have you recovered okay?”

“Well enough, I guess. My brother has been in a sour mood for a long time, and it’s been… difficult.”

Jun wished she had brought over one of her commissions to help fight off the nervous energy. “Sorry to hear that. I take it he didn’t know I was coming over?”

The clinking in the kitchen briefly stopped. “Well, it was short notice. He was going to go see a double feature, but when he heard me talking on the phone, he thought Makunouchi-san was coming over and decided to stay home.”

“I see...” Jun eyed the crack in the doorway. “Too bad Ryo doesn’t want to join us out here. To think that he used to berate ME for running away...”

The door whipped open and he stomped back into the living room, causing Jun to jump to her feet.

“Listen, JUNKO. I’m not afraid of you, and I’m not running away! I can still kick you out to the curb if I want to. You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here again! For the last time, GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT.”

She looked at him, unimpressed. “Then make me.” She intentionally crossed her arms tight enough to produce a deep cleavage.

His face turned red, wheeling back down the hall and slamming the door to his room once more.

She huffed in frustration, turning to see Kumi standing in the kitchen doorway with mugs of tea and an embarrassed expression.

“Sorry, Kumi-san. Maybe I should leave. I was hoping to catch up with you on what happened since the police arrested me, but I guess that’s a conversation to have over the phone.”

“Oh, right! No, have a seat. Makunouchi-san said they kept you for a long time. That doesn’t make sense when you were the one beaten,” Kumi eyed down the hallway bitterly. She had been brought in to the police station for questioning, but it was mostly about pressing charges and inquiring of Jun’s character. They sat down and Jun told her side of the story.

“That… That’s horrible! And to get news like that...” Kumi clenched at her stomach, remembering the day she heard the news about her parents.

“I know it’s a sensitive topic, but… that’s what happened. I still have trouble believing it myself. At some point, I’ll have to go visit Sendai and… ugh. I’m sorry, I can’t do this right now.” Jun held the warm mug tightly in her hands. “I did find out about my father and brother, though. The police had sent them an update on my status of being found alive and they came over to visit me while I was held at the station.”

Kumi was at least thankful for some good news. “I bet you were happy to see them.”

Jun shook her head. “Not really. It was embarrassing enough that they had to see me in the middle of police interrogation. What’s worse is that they felt more like strangers, even though we ended up opening up all of the old wounds about Mom. The conversation was taxing, but that was more of Dad’s fault, though. I had a better time with my brother. He’s huge, now! I haven’t seen him since I turned six years old, so it’ll be… thirteen years? Fourteen by next week...”

“Oh, is your birthday coming up?”

Jun swirled her tea. “Yup! May 17th. There’s a very special birthday gift I want to earn for myself...” She leaned in close and whispered the answer.

“Wow!! That’s a big deal! So when are you getting a—”

Jun put a finger to her mouth, and then pointed down the hallway. “Shhh! We’re being listened to...”

Kumi peered down the hallway to see the same crack in the door that Jun saw earlier.

“Onii-chan! Just get out here, already! She’s not going to bite!” Kumi yelled after him.

“Don’t worry about it! If he needs more time, then let him be.” She sipped at her mug.

“Tagawa-san… Do… do you still have feelings for my brother?” Kumi whispered.

Jun nearly choked. She started to blush as she propped her chin in her palm. “I thought I didn’t, but...” She gave a slight nod. “I’m sorry if it bothers you. I’m doing my best to get over it.”

Kumi was startled, not sure how to feel about that sentiment. “Oh! It doesn’t bother me… I think… well, to be honest, I don’t know how to feel about… you, and… him...” She made a motion similar to Ippo’s hand bumping version, causing Jun to snort.

“Sorry! I really did tangle up the emotions around here, though. Ugh, I know I’ll regret asking, but… um, no. Nevermind.” Jun took another sip, suddenly feeling awkward.

Kumi rubbed her arm, suspecting what the question was. Jun abruptly put her mug down.

“Just out of curiosity, did my three piece suit get tossed?”

Kumi lit up. “Actually, I still have it! Let me go get it for you!” She went to her room to fetch the folded clothes. “I sewed the buttons back on and had it dry cleaned. Here.”

Jun was strangely happy to see her crimson vest once more. “You didn’t have to do that! This is just a bargain bin suit…!”

Kumi smiled warmly. “I can tell it means a lot to you.”

A voice uttered from the back. “You’re telling me you kept that shit in your room this whole time?!”

She yelled down the hallway. “Don’t talk to us unless you plan on joining us!!”

Jun touched at the soft material. “To be honest, I would rather be wearing this again than this stupid skirt.”

The voice returned. “I KNEW IT.”

“Do you want us to come to your room instead, Ryo-chan?” Jun sassed back. The door slammed shut. She focused on Kumi. “We could still have our girl’s night out if he’s just going to sulk...”

He cracked open the door just long enough to yell back. “THAT HAD BETTER NOT MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS...”

The two of them blushed, and Jun lost her composure. She stormed down the hallway with Kumi following behind. Jun tried to pry the door open, but it was being held shut. “SERIOUSLY, YOU PERVERT? How dare you talk about your sister like that!!” When it failed to open, she gave up in a huff. Still, she yelled at the door. “I told you before, I’m not in love with Kumi! Get it through your skull!!” Realizing that her words still probably hurt, she lowered her head in shame. “Sorry, Kumi-san. I guess I like men to the point of wishing I could be one sometimes.”

Kumi glumly looked over at the door. “I don’t know why you would want to be a man. They can be big babies.”

They both laughed, but Jun snapped her fingers. “Ohhh, riiiight, that reminds me! Tomiko-san suggested I start taking BIRTH CONTROL...” She turned to yell the key words at the door. “As a nurse, do you have any advice on what I should start on?” She fluttered her eyelids. Ryo yanked the door back open, knocking Jun off balance. He maneuvered past them and muttered his intentions before slamming the front door behind him. “I’m going for a walk...”

They quickly made their way over to the window and peeked past the curtains.

“He’s pacing the street. What a fuss.” Jun sat herself back down at the table and checked the liquid level in her cup.

Kumi was still shell shocked by the whole birth control thing. “Did Tomiko-san actually say that?”

Jun raised her eyebrows mid-sip. “To help with period pain, yeah.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh! Is that all.”

Jun slyly looked towards Ryo’s bedroom. “Weeeell… it WOULD also be nice as a precaution, too...”

Kumi looked like she just saw a gorgon. Jun swatted at the air dismissively. “Oh come on, Kumi, it’s not like that!!” She still looked the other way holding up her mug. “It’s just that if I can’t fix things here, then I want to be safe if I decide to date other guys...”

Kumi relaxed some, and sat back down at the table to finish her tea as well. Jun looked at her with shining eyes. “Will you come with me to get birth control?”

Kumi spat out her tea.

Jun pleaded with her. “Kumi-saaaan, I’ve never done this before! I really lucked out not getting pregnant the other times, but that was probably because I went months without having a period! That’s not the case now! Please, will you come with me for support?”

“Wh… What other times!?” Kumi was still choking.

“Geeeh… I’ve… slept around with other guys before. Not many, though.”

Kumi was still heavily perplexed.

Jun finally realized where the snag was. “Hey, I haven’t always pretended to be a man! Some guys are attracted to rail thin girls. In my experience, they’re usually jerks, but it happens to the best of us.”

“But why not ask Tomiko to go with you?” Kumi patted her chest.

Jun’s eyebrows raised slowly. “Because she told me that she’s already on the pill. My question is… are YOU?”

Kumi turned a bright red, continuing her coughing fit.

“Come on, Kumi-chan! Let’s be newbie birth control buddies together!”

Kumi’s coughing fit got worse with laughter.

“You (cough) are (cough) so weird!”

“So what do you say?” Jun leaned in on her tented fingers.

Kumi looked back, the rosy glow still hanging across her face. “Don’t you (cough) DARE tell anyone!”

Jun bounced with glee. “Thank you so much! I’ll meet you at the hospital during lunch tomorrow, we can discuss it more then!”

Kumi chewed her thumbnail, checking to make sure that her brother was still pacing around outside. “Seriously, Tagawa-san, please don’t tell ANYONE! I’m worried that my brother won’t let me out of the house if he finds out...”

Jun was not thrilled that this sounded like a legitimate concern. “Well, you can tell him to go stuff it, then. You’re a grown woman, and you, too, could benefit from not having to collapse from period pain! But yeah, I do agree with you about not telling anyone. This isn’t anybody’s business but your own, and if anybody’s going to divulge that information to Ippo, it’s going to be your choice and yours only to do so.”

She turned a bright red again. “M-Makunouchi-san?! Um, w-why Makunouchi-san...” She slipped off into a daydream for part of a minute.

Jun smiled deviously. “You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

Kumi snapped out of it, flustered. “N-no! No, I’m...”

Setting down her mug after gulping the rest of her tea, Jun did her best Ippo impersonation. “K-Kumi-san, come sail away with me! I… I want to show you my huge fishing rod… Mmmm, muuuuchuuu!”

Jun was making kissy faces when she got slapped upside the arm. “Ahahahaaaa… owww! I’m just joking, he would never do that!” Jun rubbed the fresh red mark. “He has as much nerve as a noodle cooked in novocaine!”

Kumi glared at her suspiciously. “How do you know?”

Jun realized she was being serious. “Well… when you hang around the guy for six months and he has absolutely no clue you’re a woman, he tends to be more open about his insecurities concerning the opposite sex. I’m not going to rat him out on anything, but let’s just say… he feels way more secure being respectful to women than not.”

Kumi pondered those words before Ryo burst back in, spouting clearly rehearsed lines.

“Get out. I don’t want you giving her any ideas on anything. No more teasing, talking, flirting, or any other nonsense. I don’t like you, I don’t want to see you here ever again, I don’t want you talking to my sister ever again...”

Jun stood up to him. “NO.”

He glared at her with desperate anger. “Don’t talk back to me, in MY HOUSE. Keep pushing it, and I WILL –”

She interrupted him. “This is her place, too! She invited me in, it’s up to her to kick me out!!” She turned to Kumi with a solemn face. “It’s your choice.”

Kumi didn’t want to take responsibility for her brother’s rudeness, but at the same time, she didn’t want another fight.

“I’m sorry Tagawa-san, but… maybe it’s best for you to leave.”

Jun simply nodded and collected her suit before slipping in the last word as she closed the door. “Good night Kumi-san, good night, Ryo-chan...”

The two of them stood there, Kumi glaring at her brother. She collected up the mugs and had only one thing to say to him that night.

“Idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Apparently, fines aren’t a thing in the Japanese legal system. Lawyers aren’t a right, either. Nope, you either get held until you confess, or provide solid evidence that you didn’t commit a crime.  
>  • The honorific (if you’d call it that) of “yougisha” means “suspect,” like someone who isn’t considered innocent yet in the court system.   
>  • At this point, Jun would have been asking Tomiko for advice on being feminine, and she probably would have gone into a musical number, but instead of singing, “Be Our Guest,” it would be “Be A Girl.” … okay, maybe not, but it’s funny to think about.  
>  • Ryo was having some serious cognitive whiplash from seeing his only friend go from (in his mind) a spunky firebrand, to a lying backstabber, and then a dolled-up sissy. However, the worst he was going to threaten to do was scoot her out the front door.


	17. PAYOFF

After Ippo’s long-awaited return to the gym from hiatus, he mentioned to Jun that there was some mail waiting for her back at his house. Curious, she dropped by to visit after business hours. Hiroko was glad to see her once again, catching up on what had happened during the past month over dinner.

“Oh, that’s right! There were some important looking envelopes from a lawyer’s office.” Hiroko went to fetch the small stack. Jun opened the one that looked the most important and read it aloud.

“… As per agreement, you will be reimbursed for losses and damages resulting from abuse and criminal misconduct…” Her eyes went wide at the enclosed check. “SEVEN MILLION YEN!?”

They all looked at her in shock.

Umezawa nearly dropped his chopsticks along with his jaw. “How in the world…!?”

Jun had a sour pit growing in her stomach. “I’m not sure, but I think the ‘losses’ part might have something to do with the house. Mom was trying to keep it out of foreclosure, but I guess after she… passed away, it was reclaimed or liquidated when there was no evidence that I was still alive.”

“So, it didn’t go to your father or brother?” Hiroko solemnly asked.

“The only reason I can think of is that maybe there was a will and they were left out of it. Then again, she hated me too, so why…?” Jun tossed the letter to the table in disgust.

“Maybe it was an apology?” Ippo tried to be positive.

Jun looked down at the scars on her wrists. An apology seemed astronomically improbable. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if, in her mother’s last hours, she had a moment of clarity. That she had realized what she had done, what she had been doing for all those years, and that she had just lost the last of her family because of her actions. Jun couldn’t stop the tears from forming.

“But she never apologized, for anything! All she ever did was go to work, drink when she came home, and beat me when I dared to ask for anything! Why now!? I didn’t WANT money thrown at me like this! I didn’t actually WANT her to die! I wanted her to stop drinking! I wanted her to stop treating me like I was the source of all of her problems! I wanted her to talk with me, tell me what was wrong, tell me that… she...”

Hiroko went over to comfort her as she broke down sobbing.

After a long talk, Jun had come to terms with some of her grief and begrudgingly cashed the check. Ippo was sworn to secrecy about the money, but not about her birthday. After their workout, Ippo was rather excited over something, piquing Jun’s curiosity.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a gift Tagawa-san, but I’m going to see Miyata’s first fight back in Japan tonight! Did you want to come watch?”

After hearing so much about this Miyata guy, Jun felt that maybe it was high time to see him in action and agreed.

Jun had brought her camera, but she couldn’t get much by way of good shots from the balcony. Instead, she simply watched the fight progress and was rather impressed by how much of a polar opposite he was compared to Ippo in terms of damage taken during a match.

Seeing Ippo so pumped about the fight, she felt like it would be a wasted opportunity if she didn’t at least ask to visit Miyata’s waiting room. At first, Jun was shooed away, thought to be part of the press with her camera, but Ippo vouched for her and they were allowed in.

Miyata was not thrilled to see Ippo, and didn’t seem to stray far from the feeling concerning Jun as well. Miyata’s father spoke up first.

“Judging by your appearance, I would venture to say that you are Tagawa-san, correct?”

Jun put on a suspiciously smug face. “Ah, my reputation precedes me.”

He gave a dissenting huff. “Kamogawa has had quite a few stories to tell about you...”

She rolled her eyes. “Hmm. In that case, I’ll make this brief. May I request a photo for my album as a birthday present? I doubt I’ll get many more chances in the future to meet the man that my fighting style was compared to...”

Miyata continued to glare at her as he stood up. “That’s a bold statement coming from someone with very little boxing experience.”

She corrected him as she prepared her camera. “I said ‘style,’ not ‘prowess.’ If I could, I would get more experience, but no one wants to spar with me anymore at Kamogawa’s, and I don’t know of any gym willing to take on female boxers.”

“You sound like you want to go professional. The only women’s boxing we’ve seen while outside the country were opener exhibition fights. You can’t stay on this side of the globe if you want to be taken seriously,” Miyata’s father explained while the photo was taken. “If you can, try applying for a WIBA license at the international offices. They could place you somewhere overseas, if you’re willing.”

Jun didn’t want to think on it too hard at that moment, but made sure to take note. “Maybe. There are a few things I want to take care of, first. Thank you for the photo op and the information! Enjoy the rest of your evening, and congratulations on your win, Miyata-san.” She gave a bow and left with a distracted Ippo in tow. Before the door was closed, Miyata’s father had one last thing to say.

“Hey, Tagawa-san!” Jun turned to see the man smirk, glad that Jun wasn’t as rude as he was led to believe. “...Happy birthday.”

During the entire journey from the waiting rooms to the front doors of Korakuen Hall, Ippo anxiously pestered her about any and all plans on her getting a boxing license. Unfortunately, the thought of Jun going overseas reminded Ippo of when he saw Volg at the airport after his forced return to Russia over his losses, which made his stomach turn over the chance of her losing.

Outside, they bumped into Date Eiji, who was checking in on Miyata’s progress. Jun thought this was a very unusual night for photo ops. Shortly after being corrected on the assumption that Jun was Ippo’s girlfriend, Date was asked about what it meant to be strong. As they talked, Jun had her own notions on what true strength was, but at that moment, kept to herself. Before they said their goodbyes, Jun stepped into the conversation and asked to take a photo of them together, and then perched herself on a nearby wall outcropping for a more dynamic shot. Before he left, Jun asked if he had any advice for going overseas.

“Only drink bottled water, accommodate for jet lag, learn common phrases… and try to eat foods as close to what you’re used to eating in Japan. Oh, and prepaid international phone cards are a must.”

When she clarified for more fighting specific advice, all he could offer was to train hard and use the environment to your advantage. With a salute, he left.

Before parting ways, Ippo had to address his new discomfort with her investigation.

“I thought you decided you were going to stay in Tokyo, Tagawa-san...”

Jun shrugged it off. “I am staying here, but it would be nice to see what options I have down the road. After all, if I want to get into boxing, it’s best not to wait until I’m too old to do anything about it. For now though, I still want to meet my goal of the big three: my own job, my own place, and my own transportation. After that, we’ll see where I go from there.”

Ippo couldn’t argue with that logic. He nervously tented his index fingers. “As scary as it is thinking of you traveling the world, it would be pretty awesome to see you win a title match...”

The thought tugged at her as well. “Yeah… It would be.”

A few weeks passed, and Jun aced her driving tests for both driver’s and motorcycle licenses on the first try. However, special news at the gym had to take precedence over hers.

“You guys are going on a trip to the MOUNTAINS?!” Jun’s eyes dazzled with excitement. Kamogawa’s brow frazzled with irritation.

“YOU ARE NOT COMING, TAGAWA!” He pointed his cane at her. “Training camp means professional boxers only!”

She hung in his shadow like a lost puppy. “Come on, please? It’s been so long since I’ve gone camping, and I have experience that could be lifesaving!”

“Then go camping on your own time! We’re going to a friend of mine who has a pension, and he has way more experience with the mountain forests than you.”

“PLEEEEASE? I just got my driver’s license! At least let me practice on the roads, I promise I won’t get in the way!”

The vein on Kamogawa’s head grew longer. “NO, TAGAWA! In fact, I suggest you take a break from coming to the gym for a week, because if I find out you’ve made a mess of things or burn down the building while I’m gone, your ass is out of here at best!”

Takamura was finding all of this hilarious. “Oh come on, old man! She can have fun with us out in the woods!” He licked his lips while staring right at Jun.

Kamogawa whipped his cane towards him. “YOU SHUT IT!”

Jun sneered back at the pervert champion, but switched her focus back on Coach. “FINE, I’ll take leave. I have some business to attend to, anyway.”

Jun did indeed have some very special business to address, and she spent a couple of days doing research before settling on her decision.

“Here you go! The keys to your Yamaha RD 350 LC!” The dealer clasped the paperwork in one hand and dropped the key chain with two keys into her open palm.

Jun’s smile grew wide once the shock finally passed. The first place she wanted to go was the winding roads of the mountainsides further north. Unfortunately, the first place that she had to go was to the bureau to get registered and then to the insurance office. She allowed herself an indulgence shopping trip for a new leather jacket, an industrial grade lock with chain, and an extra helmet.

For the rest of the week, she practiced to improve her handling with the bike. During her travels, she found a beautiful, isolated spot that spoke to her of an obligation that needed to be met before the guys returned from camp.

Word of her motorcycle purchase had traveled too, thanks to her roommate Tomiko, so when Kumi finished her shift at the hospital for the weekend, she wasn’t completely caught off guard when Jun pulled up to offer her a ride home.

“I know this is awkward, so you don’t have to accept if you don’t want to,” Jun drummed her fingers on the spare helmet. Kumi looked away, unable to deny her discomfort.

Jun hesitated before telling her the real reason for offering. “I… want to talk to your brother, one last time.”

Kumi straddled her purse in her hands. “I don’t think you could get him to speak to you, period.”

Jun sighed in exasperation. “Well, I feel like I need to try. I just want one last chance to mend the bridge. If I can’t, then I’ll give up on him.”

She looked to the pavement, saddened. “Please don’t say that...” She barely whispered.

Jun’s regrets dogged at her. “Believe me, I don’t want things to end like this, but… if he’s not willing to cooperate, then I’m not wasting my energy on him anymore.” She handed the helmet to Kumi. “Will you help me try one last time, though?”

The bike seat wasn’t really meant to hold two passengers, so Kumi had to remind herself that there was nothing sexually intended about having to straddle the driver while holding her by the waist. She braced herself for the bike to peel out at a breakneck speed, but instead Jun drove like a grandma. It was a relaxed ride, and Kumi rather enjoyed not having to walk the entire way on sore feet. Because Ryo had already left for the gym, Jun offered to make dinner while they waited.

Twilight teased at the sun’s dimming glow on the horizon when Ryo arrived home. Seeing the bike parked in front of his apartment, he was curious to test it out.

“Nice, isn’t it?”

The familiar voice grated at his ears and made his heart jump. He turned around to see the more masculine-looking Jun he was accustomed to, dressed like a denim and leather-clad bad-ass. He had to remind himself that he was angry with her. “What are you doing here...”

Jun clapped her hands together in a prayer stance. “I’ll get to the point. I know I make your sister uncomfortable, and I piss you off nine different ways, so I wanted one last opportunity to talk to you in private before I leave you two alone for good.”

He didn’t have the energy to deal with the situation and bypassed her to start up the stairs.

She called after him. “I want clarity. I want a clean conscience before I leave.”

He wheeled around, worn down by her persistence. “You drop in without warning late at night because YOU wanted a clear conscience?”

Jun shrugged, understanding he had a point. “What time tomorrow, then?”

 _How about never o’clock?_ He wanted to say, but seeing her stand with unflinching defiance in front of the bike tickled at his subconscious.

“… You promise to leave us alone if I agree?”

Jun sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I promise. Trust me, it’ll be nice to not have to deal with your threats anymore,” she glared at him with defeated aggravation.

Her statement cut in a way he wasn’t expecting. He hoisted his bag in his hand and decided that talking on a filled stomach would be for the best. “Fine. Meet me here at 1PM. Don’t you smile at me. Just leave already.”

“I hear you...” She hopped on her bike and started the motor. “Later, Ryo-chan!” She pulled out into the street and gave a short rev of the engine to boost to the corner. He watched her leave, the bitterness subsiding some.

_Where the hell did you get the money for that thing, anyway?_

The cumulonimbus clouds were numerous that afternoon when Jun checked her watch. It was 12:57, and she was waiting for traffic to clear before turning onto the street. He was leaning against the stairwell, dressed in jeans and a button up shirt when she pulled up. His assumption that they would simply talk outside was overturned when she pulled out her spare helmet.

“Alright, hop on, and I’ll take us somewhere that we can talk privately!”

One of Ryo’s eyes squinted. “What.”

She excitedly bounced on the bike. “Come on! There’s a special place I want to show you!”

He unfortunately caught the helmet when she tossed it to him. “Hell no, I am not going anywhere with you.”

She tilted her head flirtatiously. “I’ll let you drive afterwards...”

His protests stopped in his throat. No matter how stupid this idea seemed to him, the feral part of his brain spouted all kinds of rationalizations to go.

His hands were locked firmly on the rear of the bike and he had scooted as far back as he possibly could. It was for the better, since his long legs would have otherwise surpassed hers. She drove mostly like a grandma until they entered the countryside. There, she picked up enough speed to send a thrill through him. In the privacy of his own mind, he reveled in it, watching the beautiful scenery fly by.

They came up to a gravel path leading off of the road, and she started far enough up the hill before pulling up her visor to give him a warning.

“It’s going to get bumpy, so hang on.”

Following a narrow dirt path, she did her best to drive fast enough to prevent the bike from rolling backwards, but safe enough that he wasn’t going to get bucked off. His arms were getting sore by the time they parked at the top of a hill, a good distance away from the main road.

Ryo’s better sense came back to bite him. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on dumping me off here...” He flexed his hands to stretch the ache out of his muscles.

“Heh! Dump you… No, I just wanted to make absolutely sure that you could talk freely, with no risk of listening ears just waiting to spread gossip.” She hung her helmet on the bike handle and pulled a beach towel from under the bike seat. “We’ll sit by the tree here.”

She unfurled it and sat down as indicated, taking off her jacket while pulling out her carving set. He was reluctant to sit down until she found a discarded chunk of branch to start working on.

He sat there, waiting for her to speak, but she was focused on peeling bark. He decided he should just think first. _Why am I here? Why can’t she understand that I don’t want her around? She’s the one who wanted to talk, so talk already!_

His eyes scanned the forest when she finally spoke up. “Any thoughts on what I should carve?”

He looked over, her knife poised over the blank chunk. Shrugging, he mumbled. “I don’t care. Make whatever you want...” He went back to looking away, his arms hugging his knees.

She looked at him, and then back at the wood. “A dead wasp.”

He moved slightly to check to make sure that her words indicated her decision, and not something she just saw on the ground. She quietly carved away, leaving Ryo to stew.

“I thought you wanted to talk, not carve bugs.”

She breathed in deep. “Carving helps with my nerves. There’s a lot of … drama, to tackle, and I wanted to be as calm as possible.” She cut a deep groove before continuing. “When I ran away from home and started wandering the mountains, I had a lot of anger and sadness to work through. Being truly alone in the woods, you realize just how much you need to scream, throw fits, anything to get the pain out… only for nature to not give a shit.”

Ryo didn’t bother to respond.

She started working on the outline. “Not only does it not give a shit about how you feel, it also doesn’t give a shit whether you live or die. It’s up to you to make sure you don’t. It was a hard lesson to take, even though it felt like family and friends cared about me as much as nature did. There was nobody left to blame for my actions. Nobody to piss off in hopes of stirring a reaction. Nature is much less forgiving than people, and I had to learn respect the hard way.”

“Respect? Didn’t seem like you learned much...” Ryo mumbled.

She paused her knife a moment. “If you think I disrespected you, then clearly you have no idea what I was like growing up. Trust me, this is a great improvement.”

It pricked at a nerve, and Ryo sat up to glare at her. Any instances of her actions that he thought were disrespectful, he remembered the reasons why they weren’t.

“You…” He genuinely couldn’t think of anything outside of cursing and sarcastic responses. “You’ve got a mouth on you.”

“I’ve been trying to work on it, but that’s always been my weakest spot. I like to tell it like it is, and I like to call people out on their bullshit.”

He sneered. “Then why did you lie about who you were for so long?”

She put her knife down, genuinely regretful. “That… has been my biggest problem, that I’ve found out. I hate lies, but when people keep telling me that I’m lying over and over, I’ll change myself out of spite just to make it into the truth. Growing up, people kept telling me that I’m a troublemaker, demon spawn, that there was good reason for my dad to leave and my mom to – ” She paused, staving off the tears. “They told me I was a delinquent, so I became one. They told me I was a whore, so I started messing around with the guys. They said I would be a dropout, so why not? … But I got sick of being told what I am, and decided that I was going to be a hiker, a camper, and an explorer when graduation day would come and there would be no certificate for me. When I started wandering the cities though, people showed their ugly side again and I became bitter. People kept telling me I didn’t look like a woman, so… I decided to call myself a man.” She went back to her carving. “What I didn’t expect was to finally catch a break. I found a place to stay where they weren’t going to kick me out. Someplace where I could finally eat without my stomach twisting into knots from paranoia. I started to heal and grow, and before I knew it… I no longer looked male. I had to hide my body if I wanted to keep living, but it tore me up on the inside. I decided I had to reveal the truth at some point, but I wanted to wait until warmer weather arrived if the worst case scenario happened. Meanwhile, I worked too hard and too well on the disguise, building trust, making friends, developing skill sets … all to have it torn down.” She thumped her head against the tree. “I was an idiot, no matter what I did.”

He clenched his fingers into his knees. “If you knew you had to tell someone, why did you have to GO ON A DATE WITH MY SISTER to do that!?”

Jun stopped her carving to throw up her hands. “I was fumbling around, trying to figure out who would take the news the best! When Kumi-san asked if I wanted to go to the fair, I decided that was the perfect opportunity to back myself into a corner. It was going to be male Jun’s last meal.” She held her forehead up with the base of her palm. There was a brief silence as Jun worked to calm herself down. “Ryo… I want to hear your side of it. What happened to you during the date? Where were you when I needed you the most?”

He pulled his knees in tight before doing his best to recall the events. “You kept looking around for me, so I had to stay farther back than usual. I was hiding at the corner when I heard her scream… then I came running, and I saw you holding the damn door closed while she cried in fear,” he clenched at the denim, suppressing his rage. “All I could see was red.”

Jun gently nodded, his words matching her suspicions. “I panicked when she tried to kiss me.”

Ryo bolted a wide eyed stare at her. “WHAT.”

Jun started to angrily dig out shavings of wood with a gouge. “OKAY, so it was a huge mistake to wear a suit and be charming and smell nice!! Even one out of three is apparently too potent...” She eyed him accusingly. “So why did you run away and leave your sister with the weirdo?”

“I – !!” Ryo had to fume for a bit before responding, “I didn’t know what else to do. I just knew I had to calm down elsewhere.”

Jun paused for a moment before resuming her carving. “… fair enough.”

“Kumi wouldn’t talk to me when I came back. The next day, I’m getting harassed by reporters at the gym. I would have slugged them, but the police came in right behind to arrest me. I was detained for three days before I finally got out… The only reason people stopped bothering me was because they heard you were arrested too, for a hell of a lot more. They changed their tune and even lauded me for my actions, deciding that you got what you deserved. I did, too. You tricked me into trusting you, you hurt my sister, I nearly lost my belt and my boxing license, they threatened to take Kumi away from me…!!”

Jun winced. “Kumi-san said that I didn’t deserve to get beaten up, and over time, I’ve taken her side, so that one is on you. However, I had no idea what happened after I ran away, and I didn’t know that the police were actively looking for me. That bastard… I still don’t know what his involvement was, and I hate myself for not taking him to court, but I had no evidence to get him convicted and went for a settlement...”

Ryo had to ask. “What are you talking about?”

Jun flinched at her slip of the tongue. “Dammit, I forgot. I signed an NDL, so I can’t talk about it. It was part of the agreement on the settlement concerning my mom’s…” she worked to rephrase her statement, “they paid me a huge sum of money to keep my mouth shut about the case.”

He looked at her in a disgusted manner. “You expect me to feel sorry for you now? Is that why you could suddenly afford a bike?”

She stared at him in the most serious way. “I know it sounds ghoulish, but my mom failed to earn my respect from the moment she took to the bottle to the moment she tied me up for that –!!” She stopped herself.

Ryo suddenly remembered the story, and played it back in his mind’s eye, now with Jun as a woman. Suddenly, the intensity of her trauma made sense.

Jun, not picking up on his change of expression, continued with her defense. “No one cared about me before, so I’m treating myself for goddamned once in my life.” She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. “I don’t know! What would YOU do if your parents sent you a huge sum of money from beyond the grave??”

She went back to carving while letting him ponder on it. She considered apologizing before he spoke up.

“I would have skipped getting jobs completely and bought my sister back outright.”

Jun had to stop cold. “What the… what do you mean, ‘buy your sister back?!’”

He begrudgingly explained to her how she was taken in to foster care after their parents’ death, but he was rejected, so he had to prove that he could take care of her. He detailed how everyone mistrusted him from day one, and how he paid in blood, sweat, and his own dignity to get the only living member of his family back, and how close he came to having to do that all over again while detained.

Jun slowly put down her knife and the carving to bury her face in her hands. “I didn’t know,” she groaned with her head cradled between her knees. “That’s why you hate Makunouchi, too. He took away your rookie king victory, and you’re worried he could take Kumi-san away as well. All while having that goofy smile, completely unaware and unprepared to take care of her. That must burn like crazy.”

Ryo’s pain briefly abated from hearing someone finally see it from his point of view. “It does. It burned with you too, but at least you had the courage to stand up to me.”

Jun watched some squirrels chase each other down in the valley. “No. That wasn’t courage. That was a gesture empty of any risk. True courage would have been showing you the real me that night in the kitchen...”

Embarrassed, he crumpled back up, not wanting to tread any further on the subject. Sitting once again in silence, Jun picked up a thin branch and started peeling the bark. Minutes pass. After a while, Ryo hears something rustle the greenery next to him. Looking down, there was a tiny carved pine tree stuck in the ground next to him. He gave her a befuddled look.

She held up the branch with a half grin, another little evergreen in progress. “I’m planting trees.”

The sheer ridiculousness of the act made him snort, which grew into a chuckle, then into a laugh. Jun started laughing with him, too. His laughing grew into higher pitched hysterics, causing tears to stream down his face. Jun did as well. Eventually, they both calmed down, catching their breath.

Jun looked at him with sparkling eyes. “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen you laugh like that!”

Explaining himself had started him cracking up again. “With the power of a god, you manifest useless shit!”

She started up again as well. “I guess if I’m going to be pathetic, I might as well give you a laugh doing it.”

They continued to ask and answer each other’s questions, clearing up the more sensitive topics involving the fallout. When Jun glanced at her watch, it was after 3PM.

“I should be getting you home. Kumi’s probably worried. Would you want this?” She handed over the now finished wasp carving.

“Not really? I don’t know why you wanted to carve that in the first place.” He examined it anyway.

“I chose a dead wasp because that’s what I felt like. Utterly squashed, but the stinger is still alive.”

He ran his finger over the sharp point on the carving. “You sound like you’ve had some experience with that.”

She twirled one of the tiny carved trees in her fingers. “Did I ever tell you the story about the alpine flower honey?” He shook his head no. She placed the small tree back into the ground. “I told a romanticized version to your sister before, but what really happened was after a few months of backpacking through the mountains, I came across a sprawling valley of flowers that smelled amazing. I set up my tent in the nearby woods, and I saw a bee hive up in a tree. Putting two and two together, I set out to crack it open. I chucked rocks at it until it fell, causing the bees to swarm for a while around it. I tried to let them all leave, but other small animals started investigating it, so I had to take it for myself. I lined my saucepan with a t-shirt and started cutting up the honeycomb. There were still plenty of bees in the hive, and they ended up stinging my hands to the point where they swelled up fast. I squashed every bee that got in my way and tied off the ends of the t-shirt before my hands could swell up too tight to move. I spent the next two days sick as a dog. Doing anything was painful. I kept staring at that knotted shirt, pissed off at myself for being so stupid. Finally, my hands were functional again and my first bite of food in two days was that honey. It was the most heavenly thing I had ever tasted.”

He looked at her incredulously. “You went though that hell for some stupid honey?”

She shook her head gently. “Think about it this way; If there’s something you want, and the risks are high, it doesn’t matter how much pain you go through because when you finally get the reward you were after, all the pain will be worth it. After all, I could ask you why you went through hell for some stupid belt...” Her words reminded him of how often Kumi mentioned her lack of understanding about the appeal of boxing. He nodded, relieved that at least she gets it. “Anyway, I wanted to apologize for it all. I’m sorry I lied to everyone, I’m sorry I made things even worse by sparring with you, and I’m sorry I made things awkward at best and nearly ruined your career and family life at worst. I’m sorry I keep popping back into your life when you two haven’t had nearly enough time to heal. … And I’m sorry I teased you last time. There’s a lot more for me to cover, but I don’t want to keep us here all day, so… anything I missed, I’m sorry about that, too.”

He gave a snort. Mere apologies weren’t going to fix anything, but it was an interesting change of pace to hear humility from her. He couldn’t forgive her just yet, though.

“So are we done?”

She rubbed her arm, remembering the bruises. “Yeah, in more ways than one, I guess. It was nice seeing you laugh, but I have to keep my word. You might see my face at Korakuen Hall here and there, but that’s probably going to be it. As you wish, I won’t be bothering you anymore after this. I’m… just going to have to kill off any feelings I have for you and let you go.”

He thought he would be thrilled to finally be rid of her, but her words cut deep and raw.

She got up off of the ground, tossing the dead wasp piece next to his legs. “I used to leave carvings behind when I roamed the mountains. Just leave them here if you don’t want them.”

As she stepped aside to wait for him to get up off of the towel, he turned the carving in his hands. _Kill off your feelings… but the stinger will still be alive…_

“Come on. Let’s go.” She tugged at the towel.

There was something weighing on him like a cement block. _Why…? Why can’t I move? I don’t want to forgive you, I’ll never forget the pain you caused, but… If you leave, then I’ll never forgive myself. I will NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF…_ “Wait. Please.”

She paused, and situated herself back on the towel. “… Okay. We can wait.” She picked up another stick and started carving at it while he sat in silence. She started carving out links in a chain. By the time he thought to look over, she had already carved out three of them, interlocked and dangling freely.

“How did you do that?” He wondered.

“He taught me.”

“Who?”

“Koji-san. He was the one who got me into carving as an art form in the first place. If you want, I can tell you that story, but it can be too much information about me.” Ryo just wanted to buy some time to think, so he agreed. One by one, more links appeared in the chain as she told her story. “One of the first places that I stopped at when I ran away was a cabin resort that acted as a ski lodge in the winter months. The place was beautiful, and there were a lot of campers with spring fever there. Koji-san was an instructor that would visit on occasion and teach people how to carve animal figurines. He was twice my age, and had a rugged maturity about him. I was fascinated by how smoothly he worked, and I followed him around, asking for advice and more instruction. After the third day, he offered to teach me special lessons, but I had to keep them a secret. He gave me hints that it had nothing to do with carving, but I was intrigued, anyway. We secluded ourselves at a cliff side outcropping of the woods. That night… he taught me what good sex was.”

Ryo had most of his face hidden behind his arms cradling his knees, but he stared at her wide-eyed.

She blushed, remembering the night fondly. “That was the first… and last time anyone had ever satisfied me like that. I fell in love with him that night. Unfortunately, he was only visiting for a week, and I begged him to take me with him. He told me to wait for him, promising that he would return. When I tried to hug him, he backed away, reminding me that it was a secret. It was only when an older woman came to pick him up that I noticed him slipping on a wedding ring...” Jun sighed heavily. “I didn’t want to see another human being for a long time after that.”

He gave her the stink face. “What a creep.”

She laughed hard. “Yeah, but he was a creep that taught me a few good things, so I can’t hate him completely.” Jun pondered her own words. “Maybe you don’t have to hate me completely, either?”

He wasn’t expecting her to give him the answer he was searching for, but there it was. “… Maybe...”

She smiled wryly. “You want me to teach you something good, too?”

He bunched up again. “NO.”

She laughed and lightly swatted at his leg. “I’m talking about teaching you how to ride my motorcycle, you pervert!”

“You’re the pervert!” He sat up a little. “But… yeah, sure.”

“Well then, let’s go!” She got back up and tugged on the towel again. Ryo decided to put the wasp carving in his pocket.

She walked her bike down the hill and back to the gravel path. Using the road shoulder as a test strip, she reviewed the cliff notes of what her instructor taught her at the classes. She even begrudgingly gave him instruction on how to pop a wheelie, knowing that he would probably try anyway. When she handed him the driver’s helmet, he balked.

“I don’t want it, it blocks my vision.”

Jun got mad and pointed her finger. “Like HELL I’m going to let you drive without a helmet!! Anything you do on my bike is going to be MY responsibility, and I DEMAND that you take every precaution to return to Kumi-san in one piece, got it??” She swapped out the helmets, giving him the passenger one instead. It was a slight improvement, so he decided not to argue. They both climbed on, and Ryo was thankful to have some leg room this time. Jun held on to the back, but she didn’t mind too much that she was nearly straddling his ass.

Ryo started it up and tested out the controls. Once he got things going, he peeled out onto the road, rearing back a wheelie hard enough to make her latch onto his waist, screaming inside the helmet. He got a sadistic kick out of finally making her scared. The exhilaration of the speed and adventure was enough to distract him from her embrace.

It was close to 5PM when they arrived back at the apartment. When it came time to say goodbye, Ryo had something to add.

“Thanks… for the ride,” he grumbled long and loud before handing over the helmet. “You… you don’t have to leave forever. As you said, we’re going to need some more time to heal, but...” He touched the handle of the bike. “You’ve made a convincing argument to not hate you completely.”

She put the spare helmet back under the seat. “Thanks. Since a month was too soon, I’ve decided to focus on my own life for a while. You probably have to focus on an upcoming fight, yourself. The guys at the gym have fights lined up, including Makunouchi.”

Ryo growled low, but Jun followed up her point. “That means he won’t be bugging your sister, either.”

He blinked slowly. “I should probably make you my second set of eyes on him.”

Jun laughed and shrugged. “I can’t do that much anymore, now that I’ve moved out of Ippo’s place! Besides, I’m going to need a SERIOUS upgrade from ‘not being hated completely’ if you want me to cooperate on that level!” She gave him a loving look. “You take care of yourself, and your sister, Ryo-chan.”

“Stay safe, Junko.” He stared at her, not wanting to belie any more emotion than he already did.

She nodded, put on her helmet, and took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> • Tumbling ass-backwards into money is probably the most unrealistic part of this story, but whatever. It turns out Jun is the type to hoard money when she’s not used to having enough to warrant opening a bank account.  
>  • Getting therapy in modern-day Japan is apparently a taboo thing to do, and I would assume it would be unheard of in the 90’s.  
>  • As much as Jun still likes to mess with him, she could see through his clumsy threats well enough to sense that he felt more hurt and confused than angry.  
>  • “Thanks… for the ride...” Yes, I had to squeeze in a CREEPSHOW 2 quote as well.


	18. ROOM TO GROW

It had been a month since the boys went to train in the mountains, and it was Ippo’s first match since his loss to Date. Jun was temporarily allowed to visit the group in the waiting room, where Kimura and Aoki were waiting for their fights as well.

“Oooh, wow! What are you dressed up for, Tagawa-kun?” Aoki teased.

Sporting flats, women’s dress slacks, a button-up blouse, and slicked back hair, she held up her loaner professional camera. “Monthly Boxing Fan invited me to photograph the fights with them! They offered base pay for the shoot, and a bonus for every photo used in the magazine!” She gave a solid thumbs up to the group before leaving. “Don’t mind me! Just show me what you’ve got, everyone!”

The night was an electric one. The hustle and bustle next to the ring proved to be its own contact sport. Jun tried to time her shots well, and she was glad she practiced changing rolls beforehand. Using one roll for each of the first two fights, she had two more for Ippo’s fight. Lucky for her, she did have an ace up her sleeve concerning insider information that Ippo had been working on something in secret. When Ippo pulled out the Dempsey roll, she emptied the rest of her third roll on auto, but cursed herself for eating up her film too soon before his opponent fell. She changed it out fast, tucking the roll in a special place in the bag. She ate a third of her last roll on the victory. What came as a surprise was when Sendou Takeshi got called out in the audience. Recognizing the name, she leaped over and snapped a few shots before the others shoved her out of the way. In retaliation, she jumped up on the back of a larger man who was kneeling down for a shot and took one of her own before he reared back and knocked her off her perch. Thankfully, she landed on her feet and escaped between others before he could notice. After Sendou returned the microphone, she saw an opening and slid through to an open spot, getting a low shot of him right as he glanced down at the shining lens. His face twitched for a split second when she lowered the camera, right before other media goons swarmed in to close the space.

Back at the waiting room, Jun was once again allowed in.

“You somehow look worse than Ippo-kun,” Yagi whispered. Her slicked back hair was roughed up into a greased bird’s nest, there were scuffs and dirt all over her slacks and shoes, and her blouse lost a button.

“I’m not sure if I was shoved, groped, or both, but that was an odd experience.” She informed him blandly. Turning the camera in her hand, she inspected it for damage. “Hopefully I got some good shots in.”

“Isn’t that what we all aim for? If so, you would make it four for four tonight,” he chuckled.

She got herself combed out and dusted off, congratulated the group, took a couple more photographs, and left to scout Korakuen Hall for anyone still loitering about from Monthly Boxing Fan. With the excitement died down, Jun decided now would be a good time to hit the bathroom to take a piss. Her thoughts were busy critiquing her technique and wondering how to best use up the rest of the film when she opened the door to the bathrooms. Muttering at the camera, something didn’t seem right. Looking up, she realized quickly that she had defaulted to her old way of going into the public toilets. It was bad enough that seeing the line of urinals was too inadequate of a red flag to register in her brain. It didn’t even faze her that there was someone standing at the urinals, either. It only registered in the two seconds after that it was Sendou standing there with a puzzled look.

“SORRY, WRONG DOOR!” She turned right back around and exited, starting to turn red. She could feel eyes on her nearby, and it looked like a group of older gentlemen, one with a jacket sporting the name “Naniwa Boxing Club.”

She ducked into the women’s bathroom and took care of her business while trying to calm the embarrassment. _Shit! I forgot! It wouldn’t have been so bad if I didn’t have a camera on me. Dammit, I should try to apologize before this gets around and bites me on the ass._

Hoping it wasn’t too late, she washed up and hurried out to track down the group. Surprising them from the side, she sped through her apology and explanation.

“Hello! Sorry! I wanted to apologize for going into the wrong bathroom! It was my first time photographing a fight up close tonight, so I was distracted thinking about what I could have done better and went into the wrong door. No photos were taken, I promise!”

While the others were a little perturbed by this peppy oddball, Sendou gave a smirk. “S’okay, I got that! Heh, I saw you earlier, standin’ on that one guy! Yer a quick little thing!” He looked her up and down.

“I have to be, if I want to survive.” She instinctively flexed her arm and fingers.

He stood back with a wider smile, marveling at her physique. “Damn, you’ve got some guns! You, ah… you work out around here or somethin’?”

She gave a pained smile, knowing that she’s in the enemy’s camp. “You could say that! I’m a temporary Kamogawa Gym member, but I’m still waiting on word back from Yamako-san on getting placed elsewhere.”

The man she suspected to be Sendou’s coach spoke up. “Yamako-san? So you’re looking to be a boxer, too?”

Jun was startled at how well known this man was. “Uh, eventually! There are still some loose ends I need to tie up, but… yeah, I’ve thought about entering as a professional and working my way up...”

Sendou was heavily impressed. “That’s AWESOME! Hey, you wanna come down to Osaka, practice at my gym?”

His coach held him back. “Sendou, it’s not happening.”

When Sendou gave a pouting look, Jun decided to take the opportunity to get more information regarding her own goals.

“If it’s not too much trouble, may I tag along for a bit and ask some questions?”

The coach was understandably wary. “Considering you’re associated not only with our upcoming opponent’s gym but the media as well, I’m afraid we’ll have to decline.”

“What the hell are ya afraid of?! Just keep off of the topic of the upcomin’ fight!” Sendou circled a fist in the air. He quickly turned back to Jun, switching the charm back on. “Y’know, the night is still young, you wanna go out for a drink and talk about yer questions?”

Jun raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me out on a date?”

He laughed raucously. “Like I said, yer a quick little thing!”

With Sendou’s intentions out in the open, the rest of the group decided to move on. His coach gave him a warning.

“We’re heading back to the hotel room. Stay out of trouble, and no interviews!” He pointed to Jun.

“Okay, Dad,” she sarcastically quipped. Sendou snickered.

He adopted an assertive pose and tilted his head toward her. “So whaddya say? You comin’ with?”

Considering that her previous talk with Ryo amounted to a neutral agreement and Sendou had enough confidence to overturn a bull, outside of getting teased by the Kamogawa guys she saw no reason to decline… almost.

“On a half-date. No booze, no funny stuff. Gotta stay out of trouble, remember?” She waggled her finger at him. They walked off together, Sendou partly deflated. “You’re no fun...”

“You don’t even know my name yet! … It’s Tagawa Junko, by the way.”

“Sendou Takeshi! Nice to meet ya!” He shook her hand, in which they tested each other’s grip and smiled.

The evening amounted to them grabbing a drink from a vending machine and taking a walk around the Korakuen area. Sendou had an unfortunate pattern of asking her a question, and barely letting her answer before going on about his own thoughts and interests at length. Jun was starting to wonder how long the walk was going to last. They had finished their beverages and circled back around to the Korakuen Hall entrance when he finally let her talk for a bit.

“So you make carvings fer a living?” He scratched at his cheek.

“Not a living, per se. I don’t have my own place yet, so once again, I’m working out of a laundry room and I can only do small to medium scale projects.”

“What all do ya carve?”

“A lot of commemorative pieces, usually involving award plaques, departed relatives, and sports figures being a major one through gym contacts.” She decided to hold off on divulging information on the frequent requests for busty female figurines.

“What, ya do boxing carvings of legendary names?” He gave a laugh and a smile.

“Those, and modern boxers, too. Some guys want vanity pieces done, like Takamura...” She rolled her eyes facing away from him.

He started laughing. “You did one of Takamura!? Jeez, what did he pay ya?”

She stared at him with a disenchanted look. “The honor of keeping his hands mostly to himself, I guess.”

He looked away, knowing that someone like Takamura would have a problem like that. He tried to shift the subject back on track.

“So, uh… (ahem) what would it cost me if I wanted… I dunno, a keepsake as well? Y’know, for the upcomin’ title fight?”

“Small ones, including medallions, start at five thousand, medium ones start at ten thousand. The more complicated the piece, the more it’ll cost.”

He took a step back. “STARTIN’ at ten thousand? How big is a medium?”

She spaced her index fingers apart at a length that was close to the span of her wrist to the tip of her middle finger. “It starts around here, and can go up to… here.” She moved her fingers to indicate a length similar to the span from her middle fingertip to her outer elbow. “The far end prices around fifty thousand plus expenses. I’ve only done one of that size so far, though.”

His face bunched up from the quotes. “What! For a hunk ‘a wood!?”

Jun pulled her camera out of the case. “How would you like to make a deal, then? If you let me use up the rest of this film roll, I’ll wager my most expensive carving on your fight. Whoever wins the belt, wins a custom made vanity statue, complete with a detailed rendering of the belt itself.”

He eyed her camera. “Interestin’… Does the winner also get a full date with you?”

She lightly sneered. “That could be arranged, especially if I want to get reference of the belt...”

With a wild grin on his face, he stuck out his palm. “It’s a deal, then!”

They shook hands and he posed for the rest of the film roll. As they parted for the night, he gave her a thumbs up before running off. “I’ll be seeing you again after the match!”

She pursed her lips into a frown after he left. _Considering how long you went on about fighting Ippo earlier, I get the feeling you won’t even remember my name._

The August heat permeated Tomiko’s apartment, making the cramped laundry room feel even more like a kiln. As patient as she had been about the sawdust creeping into the clean laundry, the sudden upsurge of queued commissions were getting too invasive and instances of bickering arose. With the settlement money sitting in her bank account, Jun finally set out to get her own artist’s loft. After a month of red tape hell, Jun became the proud lessee of a small, newly renovated warehouse.

Jun’s third goal of maintaining her own income began chugging along with commission work, now free to work on larger scale projects. One of the first ones she wanted to do was something she had been itching to do since making Kimura’s dragon fish mermaid. It took a lot of time, experimentation, and advance planning with Ippo and Umezawa, but she managed to clear her October deadline with a week to spare. It was a multi-tiered gift to Hiroko. First, she was given a week’s vacation stay at Village Izukoken while Jun offered to temp in her absence. The second part of the gift was revealed the day of her return, when the crew unveiled Jun’s first large scale carving of a suzuki sea bass dynamically splashing out of the ocean waves. At the bottom was a relief carving of the Makunouchi fishing boat and the business logo, complete with establishment year. When she haplessly inquired about the reasoning for the gesture, it was an easy answer for Jun.

“It’s the one year anniversary of the day that this family took me in and gave me a second chance. I wanted to show you what your investment looked like. Thank you so much, Captain. I will never forget your love and kindness.” Jun knelt to the ground and bowed her head, causing Hiroko to well up with tears. Ippo, Umezawa, and the gathered fishermen applauded them.

Before Jun left for home, Ippo stopped her. “Tagawa-san! Thank you so much for your generous gift! You do some truly amazing work!” His eyes glistened. “There’s something I wanted to give to you, too!” He handed over an envelope, making her raise an eyebrow.

“I don’t need payment, Ippo.”

“Just open it.” He smiled wide.

“… A ticket to your title match? For me!?” She was dumbfounded. “I tried to get one, but by the time I remembered to call, they sold out! Thank you so much!”

He rubbed the back of his head. “It… it doesn’t seem like it compares to what you’ve done, Tagawa-san...”

She waved the ticket at him. “Look, I can’t carve these things out of wood, okay!”

On the night of the November match, Jun brought her camera. Looking around for her seat, she spotted a couple of special individuals that made her face flush.

“Heeey, I haven’t seen you two in ages!” She waved at the Mashiba siblings.

“Tagawa-kun! I didn’t know you would be here!” Kumi genuinely smiled while Ryo looked like he was trying to hide in plain sight.

“Same; the ticket was a gift! Mind if I sit down?” Jun motioned to the seat next to Ryo. He glared at her uncomfortably, but gave her the go ahead. He tried not to notice her leg brushing up against his as she sat down.

“This is going to be a rough sit for you, isn’t it, Ryo-chan?” She pulled her camera out and checked the film. He grumbled a barely affirmative sound.

Jun was well aware that it was going to be difficult for her, too. His scent rekindled old feelings. It clashed with the knowledge that she could be dating Sendou instead. There were a lot of mixed emotions in the air, but the two things she wanted to focus on were documenting the fight and cheering for Makunouchi.

Jun screamed her voice raw that night. She didn’t want Ippo to give up, no matter how beaten and bloody he got. The fight was the most exciting and nail biting one she had seen to date, and frequently forgot to snap photos. When the referee declared Ippo the winner, she threw a fit similar to the one she did for Ryo at his championship party. Cloth brushed across her arm, making her stop mid fit and open her eyes. Ryo was quietly on his way out. Looking over to Kumi, their excitement created a feedback loop of giddiness. They hugged as friends, jumping for joy.

The starlit night was cold and crisp. Jun had just parked her bike in the alleyway. She was moderately dressed up, wearing black tights and a crimson cable knit sweater, approaching the front door to Sugar Ray’s. Over one shoulder was her camera case. In her other hand, a large gift bag. Upon entering, many familiar faces greeted her, a couple with wolf whistles.

“Hey, Tagawa-kun! Did Ippo come with you?” Aoki stated, with Takamura snickering behind him, muttering something about how he wanted to come with her.

“Um, no? Don’t tell me he’s still knocked out cold...” She set her stuff on a table with a thud. Takamura started laughing harder. She flipped him off. “Sounds like you guys already started drinking.”

“The party technically started three minutes ago, so it counts.” Kimura held up his glass.

She shook her head, pulling her camera out. Something pawed at her leg, making her drop it back in the case. Looking down, a small white fluff looked back up at her with a wagging tail.

“Oh! A puppy!” Confused but excited, she knelt down to give the happy little guy lots of pettings. “Where did you come from?”

“He’s from Hachi’s litter, dani.”

Jun looked up to see an elderly man standing next to her. He seemed rather chuffed. She stood up and gave a gentle bow. “He’s adorable! I’m sorry, we haven’t met. You are…?”

“Nekota Ginpachi! A pleasure to meet a pretty young lady like you, daniyo!” He smiled, the gaps in his teeth showing.

“Tagawa Junko, or Jun if you like.” She shook his hand with a firm grip, and his eyes opened with surprise.

“So you’re the one Gen-chan was complaining about!” He turned his scowl away from her. “Such a serious man. Has no appreciation for beauty, dani!!”

Jun wasn’t quite sure what he was going on about. “I’m guessing it’s none of my business, but if you’ve heard bizarre things about me, it’s probably true.”

He stopped, turning his head back toward her. “Nani? So what those boys were saying…” He dramatically looked her up and down. “I don’t believe it, dani.”

They sat down at the table and chatted for a while. Jun got excited when Nekota mentioned that he was the one with the mountain pension. He enthusiastically welcomed her to come visit anytime she wanted, even going so far as to grasp her hand and give it a rub with his thumb. She yanked it back with a stiff smile on her face.

“I appreciate the offer, but if I were to visit, it would be strictly for training.”

Nekota took the hint, but only barely. “That would be something, having women over for boxing, dani! You have the hands of a fighter! There are a few things I could teach you, dani…!” He reached for her shoulder, but Jun wasn’t about to assume that to be the case. She swatted his hand away with a gleam in her eye. “You’ll have to be faster than that, Nekota-san.”

The fighter in him made a single eye open in a glare. He got a mischievous grin and started with light jabs her way. Even though he couldn’t connect from across the table, Jun still giggled while dodging and parrying the incoming hits. The guys in the back sipped at their drinks in disillusioned jealousy.

“So the old geezer gets to flirt with her...” Takamura grumbled into his glass.

“I guess when you have a nice place in the mountains, you’re going to attract mountain girls.” Kimura swirled his ice cubes around.

“She can come sit on my mountain peak anytime.” Takamura crossed his ankle over his leg.

“I’m surprised you haven’t molested her yet, pervert champion...” Kimura leaned back preemptively.

Takamura was tempted to bash the glass at his head. “T’cheh! She doesn’t make it easy. Like trying to catch a flying razor blade...” He took a strong gulp of his drink, not wanting to admit that he held some respect and restraint for her—not too much, but the statues in his room were enough to provide a constant reminder.

“I hear that. Now that Reiko-san’s gone, I’ve thought about asking her out once or twice –” It was a second too late that it occurred to him that he was admitting a sensitive detail to the wrong guy. Takamura bellowed out laughter.

“Ohoho! Right! You’ve thought about asking her out! I bet it was when she flashed her...”

Ippo walked in through the door. Kimura was thankful for the shift in focus.

Despite being the man of the hour, Ippo seemed rather pissed off. Jun started snapping photos, regardless. “You had better smile tonight, Champion Makunouchi-senshu!” He gave her a pained smile while Jun snapped the shutter. When Ippo was seated next to Kumi, Jun wanted to take the opportunity to hand over the gift. “I hope it’s not too awkward, joining in… For you, Makunouchi-san.” She sat the large bag down in front of them. They were startled to see a medium sized stained carving of Ippo wearing the championship belt.

Jun took a sip of water. “I guess now’s the time to mention that I had come across Sendou during your comeback fight, and I had made a wager that whoever won the title would get a free commission. By the way, my thanks to your mom for letting me see the belt up close while you were resting.”

Ippo was flattered. “Aww, you didn’t have to do this! The fish carving was more than enough...” He checked out the intricate details on the piece.

“The suzuki was for your mom’s career, This one’s for yours. You’ve earned it with every bruise, every bloody nose, every punch at the bag and every step of roadwork. You’re the champion now, so own that honor!” She slapped the table excitedly. Kumi couldn’t help but smile at her exuberance.

Others had come over to take a gander at the carving, expressing compliments and congratulations to Ippo.

The antics of the night carried on for Jun, taking photos, singing surprisingly well at karaoke, and swatting at bawdy commentators. It had been a long time since they were all together again, and she had fun being herself this time around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good grief. Jun has to fight them off with a stick now.
> 
> • It bugs me a tiny bit that I decided to change “Sendo” to “Sendou,” but not “Ryo” to “Ryou.” Oh well.  
>  • Could you imagine how differently this story would go if she had originally imprinted on the article on Ippo vs. Sendou instead?  
>  • After Jun unveils the fish carving, Umezawa’s thinking to himself, “Why is it whenever Tagawa comes over, there’s crying involved?”  
>  • Ryo’s sitting there through the match, sandwiched between two girls screaming his enemy’s name, and once it’s FINALLY over, Jun’s ass is bouncing about a foot away from his face while she’s jumping for joy and he’s like, NOPE, I’M OUTIE.  
>  • The party is pretty much the first time Jun wears casual women’s clothes around the Kamogawa guys. They noticed.


	19. FIVE TIMES AROUND THE ASH CAN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHEHHEH... Yeah. Funny walks ahead.

It had been less than a week since Ippo won the Japanese Featherweight Champion title, and the excitement had died back down to make way for the dullness of daily responsibilities. Jun had since processed her film and even sold a few photos to the different boxing magazines, a couple of which traded her payment for ad space for her carving business. A fresh batch of commissions had come in, almost all of them projects she could finish in one sitting. The other orders would take weeks to complete, so she had a brief window to work on her own stuff. She had pulled the Horseman project out of storage and started picking at it once more. After two days of embellishing the already detailed horse, the third day had her frustrated, unable to start on the Horseman. She bounced her knife onto the table and went for a walk around the warehouse. It was a Sunday evening, and she wanted to do something different. Sendou’s offer for a date squirmed in the back of her head like a worm on a hook.

 _Feh. Like I’m going to drive all the way to Osaka just to have that blowhard rant about his loss to me while asking for a pity fuck._ She slowly tilted her head back and forth, wondering if the latter wouldn’t be so bad. She kicked at the floor, staring at the phone. _I don’t know his number or address anyway, and I’m not about to go around asking. … Shit, I’m so lonely._ She looked to the ceiling on that last part. Eyeing the phone once more, her thoughts wandered to a weightier notion. _I do know of one number I could call, but I don’t know if I’m still in the doghouse. I’m not sure if Ryo was in a mood because of me, or because he was dragged to his enemy’s title match. Kumi seems to be mostly better now, but I kinda kicked that dried turd open at the party, too._ Laughter tickled at her throat while thinking about how Kumi seemed jealous that she had brought a full carving as a gift while Kumi was empty handed, especially after finding out that it was Ippo’s birthday that night. Jun thought it was nice to see those two getting closer, but not too close to get Ippo’s head knocked around like hers was.

 _Maybe someday, you’ll make the big move and hold her hand for two whole seconds, Ippo!_ She rolled her eyes. Pacing around some more, she couldn’t get her mind off of wanting to hit someone up. An invasive thought popped up with Takamura and Kimura as options. She shivered and let out a disgusted groan. _Those vile shit bags can stick their dicks in a wall socket. I haven’t forgiven them for what they did to Ryo…_ The thought of forgiveness brought back the sensation of having her arms wrapped around his sculpted midsection on the bike. _For fuck’s sake, it’s already been five months since then! Granted, it’s been a very busy and eventful five months for me, and I did see him at the match, but I still miss him. I shouldn’t bother him if he’s still hurting._

She sat herself back down at the workstation, glaring at the roughly cut sections of the sculpture clashing with the detailed artistry around it. _The nature of this project isn’t helping any._ Minutes passed, and all she could do was fume at her mental block. She brusquely got up from the table and stomped over to the phone. _I can’t take it anymore. I don’t want to start on any other project until this one is done, it’s been months in the making, I need photo reference for the rest of it, and GODDAMMIT, I WANT SOMEBODY TO AT LEAST TALK TO!!_ She dialed up his number without a second thought. Kumi answered the phone. _Crap…_ “Hey, Kumi-san! It’s Junko. Thanks! Yeah, I had fun. Glad you did, too! … Oh, I never gave it to you? Strange… Yeah, my number is 077-999-4011. Well, that would have been really weird to ask at the party. (cough) Uh, I was just curious though, is your brother home? I’m working on a project that I want to get finished before starting on my new commissions, and I don’t have any photo reference available. It’s like one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and I need someone who looks intimidating. Heh! Yeah. Oh yeah, sure, put him on!”

There was a pause before a grouchy voice answered.

“What do you want, Tagawa.”

Jun was not in the mood to deal with his attitude, but she still wanted to get this carving done. “Hey, Ryo. I need some photo reference for one of my projects, and I’m willing to pay you one thousand yen per photo, or two thousand yen per hour if you stay to model for me. … No, I just need reference of your face, don’t freak out at me! … Well, okay, there’s the rest of the body too, but you’re going to be clothed! ...So are you available tonight or tomorrow? Tonight only... Well, I want to get this thing done already. I’ve been working on it off and on for months, and if I put it off until after these new commissions, then it’s going to be months again before I get back to it! Um, if I take photos, it’s going to take a day for them to develop, and if I get bad results, then I’ll have to call you in again. Modeling will speed things up a lot for me, but it’ll eat up more of your time tonight. Fine, I’ll try to work quickly, but at best it’s going to take me two hours. I know. … You-you WILL?! – I mean, you’re coming in to model, right? Of course, an easy four thousand, at the least, and it could go up to ten thousand. Do you need me to pick you up, or…? Uh… I think it’s about five kilometers out from your place? … If you want, you can do your roadwork getting here and I can drop you off back home when I’m done. It’s the old Sanchu Fixtures warehouse down by… Yes, I live in a warehouse. No, I don’t sleep on hard concrete. If you were around during the remodeling, you would know that I live in the offices and work on my commissions on the warehouse floor. Bring warm clothes though, I can’t afford to heat the whole place. Come around to the door next to the dock. Uh-huh, right next to the bread factory. If you smell anpan, you know you’re close. Sure, thanks. Bye, Ryo-chan…”

Slowing down to a walk, Ryo zipped his coat back up after crossing the railroad tracks. The smell of bread led him close to a small warehouse up on a grassy incline. The lights were on, and he saw the rust stains that denoted where the old Sanchu logo once was. At the door next to the dock, he rang the bell, hearing it echo through the building. _Junko, you had better not have pranked me into coming out to the middle of nowhere…_

The door opened to her bubbly, petite self. “Hey, you made it! Come on in!”

The warehouse was only three-quarters what he expected it to be. There was a lot of open space and markings denoting the former presence of machinery and shelving units. The whole place reeked of dust and pine wood. A lot of equipment was left behind, like push brooms, hand carts, and shoddy pallets. What he couldn’t visualize was her bike parked in front of the dock’s shutter doors, a heavy bag/speed bag combo stand, free weights, and even a mock boxing ring set up along a wall. Near the offices, a makeshift photography setup sported a giant sheet between two shelving units. A long clothesline stretched along another wall. While he took in the scenery, Jun was eager to give him a tour. She showed him the boxing equipment, and he swung a lax flicker at the heavy bag. She directed him to an area with lots of boxes, packing peanuts, and some drop cloths.

“Ooo! There’s something I want to show you! After one of my bigger projects, I had some leftover scraps that I turned into… this!”

She pulled out a massive wooden scythe, folded in. His eyebrows cleared his lids.

“What in the ever living hell…?” She gave it a yank upwards, swinging the blade out and securing it with a click. His jaw dropped some. “You MADE that?!”

She was beaming with pride. “Yup! I had to do some research on locking mechanisms, and it still needs some paint and a polyurethane coat, but yeah, I like it! Here, you want to try?” She showed him where he needed to press to unlock the blade, and folded it back in. He gave it a yank, and the satisfying click gave him a menacing grin.

“Hu hu hu hu…”

She herself had a wicked smile and started bouncing on her toes. “OOOOH! You want to hear something fun? Ippo has no idea that I have this thing...”

His sadistic delight intensified with thoughts of all the different ways he could make the little pest shit his pants. As much as he wanted to play with this frightening new toy, there was one other thing that Jun wanted to show him.

“Of course, if you want to go the slasher route, you can take the chain off of this thing and rev it up...”

She held up her chainsaw. His eyes narrowed and he dipped his head. “Why would I want to remove the chain?”

She gave him an exasperated look and put the chainsaw back down. Leading him further around the building, she explained what doors went where.

“That part up there is my bedroom, while the area down below is the kitchen. Over there used to be a break room, but I turned it into my dark room. That door there goes to the bathroom and laundry room.”

He looked up at the offices. “Huh. What a bizarre setup.”

Jun shrugged. “It works well enough for me. The only thing that sucks is I have to wear sandals to the shower and hurry back upstairs after getting washed up.” She looked up at him, still surveying the area. “Hey, did you eat dinner yet?”

The concern for him jostled his attention. “Uh, no, not yet.”

“Are you on weight management right now?”

“I still have some time until my next match, so I can afford to cheat a little,” he shrugged. “Not too much, though.”

Jun checked her watch. “I’ve already been working on this thing for half of the day, so I haven’t had time to make dinner. I’ll call in some delivery and schedule it to arrive after the first hour of work. Then we can have a thirty minute paid break.”

“Sounds good to me. So is that what you’ve been working on?” He pointed to the half done sculpture.

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Oh yeah. You can go take a look while I place the order— Oh! What do you want to have?”

They hashed out the details and he went to investigate the piece. He was awestruck with how much detail was put into the equine anatomy, from joint curvature to intricately weaving mane strands. It wasn’t hard to believe that it had taken so long to carve out. The Horseman, however, was nearly unrecognizable as anything human. Only the legs had an approximate indication against the horse and some of the cape was finalized. The rest was still a blocky mess.

When Jun finished up on the phone, she directed him to pose on a vaguely horse-looking mound she threw together using a rolled up carpet, two bar stools, and drop cloth. She added some padding for him so he could stay in place for an extended period of time. As he got situated, she offered a small box filled with orange foam pellets.

“Ear plugs?” She inquired. He didn’t quite get it. “I’ll be using power tools, so it’s going to get noisy.”

“Oh.” He put in a set and just hung out on the carpet roll while she worked. He spaced out for a while when the doorbell cut through the earplugs. Jun plucked hers out and pulled cash from her waist wallet. “Food’s here!”

“It’s been an hour already?” Ryo was surprised at how quickly time passed, until he stood up, giving a small eye twitch from the groin and hip pain.

They ate in her kitchen at a small table along the wall. Ryo was impressed that it looked like a proper, clean kitchen rather than resembling the rest of the warehouse. When they finished, her watch alarm went off, indicating that break was over.

Another half hour passed, and Jun finally switched over to hand tools. When he was having trouble figuring out how she wanted him to pose for the arms, she brought down a mirror for him to practice. The mirror remained, and he wasn’t too keen on having to stare at his face while she worked. There was also a major distraction as an unintended consequence; the mirror gave him a better view of her ass.

“This is going by soooo much faster now that you’re here!” She happily carved out chunks at a decent clip, shaking her hands out every now and then.

“How long does it usually take you to make something like this?” He watched her in the mirror.

“This level of detail always takes time, so depending on the size of the piece, it can take me anywhere from a few days for a small carving to weeks or a couple of months on the really big ornate ones.”

“How many large ones have you made?”

She blew off some shavings. “Only three, so far. Two were matching lions for the grand opening of a new restaurant. Those were the first pieces I worked on here, even before the remodeling started, so I finished them in less than four months.”

“How many commissions have you done so far?”

She had to stop and think for a minute. “Since moving in? Um… let’s see, about ten in the beginning… I think I averaged about forty per month since moving in… so around two hundred now? That’s not counting the gifts I’ve made.”

He had to blink at that number. “Wow. You have been busy.”

“I’ve learned to pace myself a little better, but including gym time, I’m working over 12 hours a day. Those lions pushed me to 15 for a while, and I never want to do that again… but I probably will, since business requires it sometimes.”

“So this is your full time job, carving animals and shit?” He smirked.

“I carve lots of things, mostly involving commemorative pieces or interior decoration. There was one guy who paid double for me to turn his ex-wife into a harpy figurehead for his boat.”

Ryo tried not to laugh. “How much did that one cost him?”

She didn’t bat an eyelid remembering the price. “Three hundred and fifty thousand yen.”

He almost fell off of his perch. “Three hundred and fifty… THOUSAND?? For one carving?”

She stopped, worried that he was going to knock the carpet roll off of the stools. “Well, yeah. Small ones start at five thousand, medium ones at twenty thousand, and large ones are a hundred thousand before I even cut into the wood.”

He started getting pissed that he was beating himself bloody for purse winnings and scraping by driving a truck, while she was here making money carving shit for rich assholes. “Must be nice...” He muttered through clenched teeth.

She gave a brief laugh. “You’d think so, and to be honest, it is great to get paid for doing something I’m passionate about, but I need to be absolutely careful not to wreck my hands. Boxing makes it even more risky. As nice as the commission figures sound, the monthly payments for the warehouse alone eat up a third of my income, plus there’s fighting tooth and nail to get payment from dick bags who want to cheat me, shipping issues, getting tetanus shots because I gouged myself too many times...” She stopped and turned to smile at him. “But, anything worth having, is worth fighting for!”

He watched her deftly move the chisel in and around the wood. The thought of shattered bone cutting through her hands made his own tense up. “Maybe you should cut boxing out of your schedule?”

She gave a derisive snort. “You go tell yourself the same thing, and see where that gets you.”

He looked away. “Boxing is all that I have. You have something respectable to fall back on, I don’t.”

Jun stopped to waggle the chisel at him. “I wish all of my clients felt that what I was doing was respectable when it comes time to pay up.” She pried out a reluctant shaving with her fingers. “Besides, hitting the heavy bag helps relieve the frustration of dealing with people.” She blew away some more flakes before standing back to look at what was left. “Hey Ryo? I need to ask for your opinion on this.”

He scrunched his face in confusion. “Why?”

Jun motioned with her finger. “Just come over here.” Getting up and stretching, he looked over at her handiwork. It looked like it was mostly done, save for the details on the face and scythe-holding hand. “I know the scythe prop I have is heavy, so you’ll just have to hold it long enough for me to carve the fingers. However, I’m curious to know what you think the face should look like.”

He looked at her like she was asking him how to fix a helicopter engine. “How should I know? This is your project.”

“But you’re the one modeling for me, and I want you to try and project how you think it would feel, chasing down some poor soul on horseback, ready to strike.” When she saw that he was still having trouble understanding what she was getting at, she elaborated. “This is supposed to be the Horseman of Hunger and Desperation, looking to take down all who oppose him. It should represent the feeling of going against what feels like an insurmountable obstacle, but having the grit and resilience to charge forward, no longer worried about your own safety. They need to go down, swift, and in pieces.”

She imitated his swinging left, throwing a flicker with more of a scythe-swinging motion. Her posture returned back to normal, looking back up at him. “Do you think you can hold that mental image for a while?”

He smirked, eyes gleaming at her. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

She fetched the scythe prop for him first, and shifted the carving over for a better view. She worked fast, and moved on to the final part of the face.

With her cue, Ryo practiced in the mirror a little, conjuring up the feeling he gets when he’s in the ring. He made sure that he had the look that he hoped his opponents would see moments before everything turned to black. Different matches he had won cycled through his mind, entertaining him for far longer than he anticipated.

Jun’s alarm went off. “Damn, I’m so close, too!” She set the timer for ten minutes. “Let’s take a break.” They stretched, and Jun went off to go find some sand paper, rags, black wood stain, masking tape, and some brushes. Ryo took a close look at the sculpture. He was amazed at how quickly she could work in detail. The face was still rough, but she had managed to capture his sinister grin almost perfectly. Running his finger over the contour of the chin, It started to occur to him that this is how she envisioned him from the beginning. And yet, despite the malicious intent portrayed by the Horseman, he couldn’t see it as being a representation of desperation, even less so of physical hunger. It emanated a sense of power and confidence. The excitement started to build within him.

After the break, he was having trouble regaining the mental image. All he could think about was how awesome this carving of hers looked, and couldn’t wait to see it completely finished.

“Hey! You’re not thinking like the Horseman anymore!” She exclaimed.

He looked over at her in amazement, like she was a mind reader. “How can you tell?”

She smiled coquettishly. “You are way too happy looking!”

Ryo was not about to admit his thoughts out loud just yet. “I’m happy because I’ll finally be done soon!”

She shook her head going back to work. “I know, it’s hard to hold a pose, but please concentrate! Just think of something you know will sour you immediately, and pretend you’re going to kill it!”

Like a light bulb, Makunouchi’s grinning head popped into his mind. The thought of snipping it right off of his shoulders with the scythe gave him entertainment.

After many minutes passed, she put down her knife and cracked her knuckles. “All right! I think I’m finally close to being done! All that’s left is sanding, staining, and signing the bottom!”

Getting up to examine the near finished piece, he noticed that she had downplayed the size of his eyebrows, smoothed his face some, and added more flowing hair. It lost some visceral quality because of it, but still maintained the energy of the hunt. A genuinely happy smile creased his face as he couldn’t stop staring at the professional level of craftsmanship.

Their earplugs went back in and Jun used a hand drill fitted with a sanding bit to go over the larger areas, switching over to a sandpaper-wrapped pencil to get into the nooks and crannies. While Ryo wandered around, she used a can of compressed air to blow away the dust. He was testing out her free weights while she put down a careful layer of masking tape on the piece. As she painted on the first layer of stain, Ryo stood back to watch. His mind wandered to how far she had come, from stories of her slicing up school desks and slashing tires to creating amazing works of art as a livelihood, from starving on the streets to holding her own at the gym, and going from a deceitful scamp to an honest… scamp. He was proud of her. The alien feeling ached in his chest, but he just couldn’t argue against it. He was glad that she found a way to create, whereas he could only destroy. And yet, there it was, proof that he didn’t completely destroy if his necessary presence gave her inspiration. The ache slowly grew throughout his chest. There was no doubt in his mind that this was a tribute piece to him, and he felt both honored and humbled. _No one has ever wanted to make artwork of me, unless it’s for sensational fight posters. People can barely stand to look at me, otherwise. No one’s ever invited me to their house, and offered me dinner— paid, no less. No one has ever looked at me the way she does… even after how I’ve treated her, she still asks for my company. Why…why?? Is it because she…_ He looked away, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. _No. I’m a monster. This is all I know. This is who I am, and she carved that certainty right into the wood._ His attempt at convincing himself that this tribute piece was a critical look at him didn’t stick. _But why would she put herself through this impressively elaborate effort just to rub it in my face? Even if the whole point is to make me out to be a heartless demon, it’s still impressive to look at. Maybe she forgot I existed until that match, then she got angry at me all over again?_ He looked over at her, her body slightly bouncing to her gleeful humming as she applied another coat of stain. He gave a heavy sigh through his nose, trying to stifle a smile. _Stop being so cute!_ He closed his eyes for a few seconds. _Who am I kidding? She’s not angry at me anymore. She’s been so kind to me, and I keep stepping on it. I can’t. I just can’t hold onto this grudge with her any longer. I do care about her._ He gritted his teeth, remembering his words from their forest therapy session. The ache in his chest forced the truth forward. _“I don’t completely hate you?” That’s cowardly bullshit! I… I don’t hate you at all!_

Jun delicately checked under the masking tape for bleed, and let out a whoop of joy that echoed in the building. Pulling her mask off, she put up her arms in delight.

“It’s finally done! The stain is going to need some time to dry, but after that, I sign it and it’s yours!”

Ryo’s face dropped. “M-Mine?! What??”

Jun clarified as he walked over to take a closer look. “Well, you don’t have to keep it if you just want the six thousand yen I owe you tonight. Or, if you wish, I could sell it and split the profit with you. I might be able to get somewhere between… twenty thousand to a hundred and fifty thousand, after expenses,” she giggled. “But, that’s up to you. If you manage to sell it yourself, you can keep the whole pile.”

Ryo held no interest in making any kind of profit. He wanted to touch the carving, but knew better. “Are… are you serious? I can keep it?”

She gave him a swift pat on the arm with the rag she was using to wipe her brush with. “Of course you can! It’s pretty much you, isn’t it? You can use it as a ward against invading Makunouchi spirits.”

He laughed hard. She laughed, too. As his speechlessness pervaded, she filled in with her own commentary. “No offense, but I’m kind of glad it’s finally leaving. I will be taking photos of the finished piece, but other than that, all I can see anymore is where I had to glue this piece back on, pretend like I meant to put in that huge scar on the horse’s leg, that knot that I had to patch up right here, the horrible mess I made of the cape, the bad proportions...”

The way in which she was going on and on about her mistakes got him irritated. He wanted her to shut up and just enjoy it like he was. Out of impulse, he lightly clutched her chin between his fingers and aimed her face at him. He leaned in close like he was glaring down an opponent, but he spoke with genuine affection that turned his deep voice to velvet.

“You did a good job, Junko. Now stop worrying about it and be proud of yourself for finishing such an amazing piece.”

His closeness and the appreciative look that twinkled in his eyes made Jun weak. The blood rushed to her face as she searched his eyes.

“Y… yeah… sure...” She reflexively swallowed hard.

Once again, Ryo couldn’t resist taking pleasure at catching her unguarded. Finding an opening to really startle her, he thought it would be funny to make the motion of giving her a small peck… except, he misjudged the distance and actually connected for a split second.

She flinched slightly, but didn’t pull back. Suddenly, the air around Ryo felt thick, refusing to let him move away. His walls seared a crack down to the foundation. Ryo’s expression quickly changed from a mischievous sneer to indecisive concern. It didn’t feel right to tease her like that, and he wasn’t about to take the coward’s way out again. With some hesitation, he gently moved in to give her a proper kiss. His walls crumbled to dust in that instant.

Jun dropped the rag and the paintbrush, a clatter echoing in the building.

All of her strength had left her. The only thing keeping her upright was the rush of blood though her neck and to her face. Her eyes rolled into her heavy lids and she drank deeply of his affection.

Ryo felt the warmth rush in. Her lips were so soft, and when she ran her fingers through his hair to cradle him closer, a crackling electric desire ran through his body. He wanted her love. Her delicate touch. Her intoxication. His hands ran down her sides, briefly pausing before they went down to her thighs to hoist her up onto him. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Her passionate kisses worked their way down his neck. The warmth Ryo felt earlier was now a steaming hot pulse for so much more than his common sense wanted to allow. His breathing got heavy when her tongue writhed and danced across his Adam's apple.

She pulled up from her foreplay to look him in the eye with unbridled lust. “Let’s go upstairs.”

His brain was too clouded to protest before she jumped down from him and pulled him along quickly to the office door. Taking their shoes off and going upstairs gave him enough time for the haze to clear. He stopped at the landing in front of her bedroom door right as she opened it and stepped through. Her intentions were clear as crystal.

“Wait! I’m… I’m not ready, I mean...” He started to back away.

“I’m on the pill and I have a twenty-four pack of condoms in my desk.” She calmly stated.

He stood there agape. “… How long have you been prepared for this!?”

“TOO LONG!” She yanked him into the room by the front of his sweater and slammed the door after.

Ryo never thought he would be genuinely scared around this woman, but he also never thought he would be caught in this situation in a million years. It was bad enough that the last time he was “physical” with her, his whole life got upended into a manure pile. Now, not only could things turn on a dime, but the risks ran from having to explain his involvement once more to the police, to losing an eye and his boxing career with it… or worse. Still, his self-preservation instincts were clashing hard with his defiant impulses. He stood there frozen, taking in the scene. She had made quick work of unfurling her futon, blanket, and pillow on the floor. As she went to her desk humming triumphantly, He saw the bookshelf, partly filled with educational books, and the rest with failed or abandoned carvings, some of which were sexually provocative. Photos lined the walls mixed in with posters. In one corner specifically, one of his boxing posters was surrounded by clippings of him from boxing magazines and the framed photo she took of him with the championship belt. As if that wasn’t creepy enough for him, the rest of the room became much worse. At her desk, there were carving tools mixed in with pens and pencils collected into mugs and jars. A small collection of bladed weapons were pushed to where the wall and the desk met, which included two butterfly knives, a Bowie knife, and four different folding knives, one that he suspected was a straight razor. Framed above her desk was a hunting knife with a lunging wolf carved into the handle. Photos and paperwork littered the rest of the desk. She had pulled out the box of condoms and had taken one of her carving knives to slit open the cellophane wrapping. His hand started searching for the doorknob.

The box Jun had was a sampler pack. She pulled out two different colored condoms. “Do you want the deep ribs, or –” She looked at him and saw the nervous horror in his face. Her eyes followed him down, seeing his hand grasping the handle. She gave a drawn-out sigh as she took a critical look at the room that had been her haven of comfort and interests and stopped at the knives on her desk. She winced. “I… messed up again, didn’t I?”

She tossed the condoms onto the table with a defeated motion. “I’m so sorry. I thought that… you kissing me was the green light. Unfortunately, I was the car at the light and you were the pedestrian at the crossing.” She gave an apologetic look. “Please, don’t be mad at me.”

He awkwardly straightened himself out. “I’m not mad, it’s just… uh… I wasn’t… planning on this...” He cleared his throat, staring at the futon on the floor. He tried to force himself back into his intimidating state, but he wondered if that was going to give her the wrong idea. “L-listen, I’m not… uh, I don’t go sleeping around with people, okay? I have a reputation to protect and I’m supposed to be… um, an example for my sister.” His mind and face cringed at bringing her into the subject.

Jun sadly smiled. “Yeah, I get it, and I don’t blame you at all.” She scratched at her head roughly. “I smell like sawdust and wood stain fumes, anyway...” She took a deep breath and sighed. “Tell you what. I’ll go get cleaned up while the wood stain is drying, and you can have a look around in the meantime, maybe punch at the heavy bag or walk around the building.” She casually sauntered up to him, opening the door when he quickly stepped aside. A mischievous twinkle shone in her eyes before she left the room. “Or, you can join me in the shower, if you want...” She lightly punched his arm, barely a tap, and closed the door behind her with a giggle.

He stared into space for a solid five seconds. He goggled the door handle, then leaned over to the window facing the warehouse floor. Sure enough, she was headed to the bathroom with shower sandals on her feet. He switched back to the room, the decor prickling at his subconscious. The box of condoms sat there open on the table, and he stared long and hard at it. _At least she wanted to be safe…_ Nervously, he plucked the condoms up off the desk and plunked them back in the box, checking the expiration date. He ran his hand through his hair as he wandered around the bedroom. Examining around the misfit carvings, there were some photographs peeking out from underneath a botched mermaid. He turned away with a blush when he realized they were reference photos Jun took of herself… naked. He rubbed at his arm as he started to pace the room. That box of condoms seemed to mock him. He picked it up and started reading the directions on the inside for a few seconds before setting the box back down and rubbing his hand across his face. He ventured over to the collage shrine of himself in the corner. She had expertly cut his image out of different magazines and overlapped them in a way that almost made him animated. He still wasn’t sure if this was admirable or stalker-like. Next to the collection was a different set of photos that were obscured by her dresser. She staged her own photo shoot dressed as a boxer, and the first set of photos that drew his attention was a triptych. The first photo was secured to the wall with a single nail, but the nail was placed to look like she was swaying away from it. The second one was similar, having her block the nail with her arm. The third photo was taped to the wall, made to look like she punched the nail out of frame. Ryo snorted with laughter. His eyes wandered to another photo collection, intended for inspiration. His emotions ran the gamut as he examined the photos encircling a written message, saying, “Love yourself, no matter who you are!” One was of her dressed in her suit looking confident and flirtatious. One was her walking away topless from a pile of cut bandages, a knife in her hand, and the kanji for “freedom” transferred in ink onto her back. One was her holding Ippo’s puppy, Wanpo, at the party with a huge smile on her face. One was an older photo of her dressed in uniform at the fishing boat. One was of her posing tough in front of her bike. One was of her dressed as a boxer with fake blood spattered across her fists, lit in such a way to make her maniacal expression look exceptionally frightening. The final photo was an erotically posed one, with only a crimson silk ribbon strategically placed to cover her. The longer he lingered on the photo, the more his jaw dropped. He finally forced himself to turn back around, pacing the room several times. He stopped, one hand on his hip and the other hand on his forehead.

“Come on, Ryo! What are you going to do? Be the good older brother, or… or the monster...”

He snatched the condom box back up again with a flick of his arm, fully reading the directions.

“Blah blah blah… Squeeze the tip gently so no air is trapped inside… Immediately after… ejaculation… hold the condom in place and withdraw the... while it’s still erect – Ugh, what am I doing.” He put the box back down and held his face in his hands. “I need to go for a walk.”

Internally, he was desperately trying to build his defenses back up, but the bricks no longer fit together. He went downstairs, following the wall. The door on the far end of the building suggested he turn back to get his coat. As he pondered his choices, he stopped abruptly after passing the bathroom door. The smell of shampoo filled the air, and he could hear her singing. Like a siren, she drew him closer to his watery fate. He stood there, listening, imagining, debating. His hand rested across the doorknob.

 _What are you doing, Ryo?? Keep moving!_ His conscience, almost sounding like his coach, tugged at him like a leash on a disobedient dog. His Id growled in his own, much stronger voice. _DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO._ He turned the handle and opened the door just a crack. Peeking inside, he saw her.

The bathroom had been remodeled as well, with all of the stalls removed save for a singular toilet. The room looked smaller than normal public restrooms due to the wall separating the laundry room. There was a hastily used electric trimmer sitting on the multi-sink counter, along with her pile of clothes. In the center was the open design shower, with her using it. The sight of her fully naked and dripping wet sent his libido into an uncontrollable froth. His eyes lost luster as he watched. He unbuttoned his pants. A long growl uttered from his throat. His fingers slowly pulled down the zipper. He started to push the door open.

“Ryo, is that you?”

Her inquisitive voice was like a wash pan falling on his head. She had just turned off the shower and wiped her face of water. He had closed the door back up, opting to yell through it. “(COUGH) Are you done in there yet?”

“Almost! Just give me a minute.”

 _What am I DOING!?_ He rolled his neck to face the ceiling. _I can’t be here. This is a trap, it HAS to be a trap. I need to put my foot down, collect the money, and just get out of here, before…_ His head circled back around only to realize that his pants were still undone and his dick was ready to escape his underwear. _Shit, shit, shit!!_ He faced away from the door, tucked everything back in, and zipped up right as she opened the door, giving him a jolt. He tried to casually turn around with his arms crossed, but he couldn’t look her in the eye while she was standing there with only a towel around her.

“Hey, I need to talk to you. I, uh… ahem, I need to make a few things clear –”

“Can we talk about this upstairs?” Her request made him glare at her.

“NO!” He was more flustered than angry. “I mean, I’m not going back up there until –”

“HEY! I’M FREEZING MY ASS OFF HERE! WE’RE GOING UPSTAIRS!!” She stamped her little sandal-clad feet.

“Oh! Right.” He followed her back to her room against his better judgment.

Once inside, she pulled a fluffy, hooded robe from her dresser and held it up to him. “Could you hold this open for me?”

He begrudgingly obliged, holding it out far enough to block his view. She slipped her arms inside and tied it off, pulling the towel out from underneath. She rubbed her head vigorously with it and dried off her legs before tossing it to the hamper and pulling her hood up.

“Ahhh, that’s so much better! So! What did you want to talk to me about?” She sat on top of her desk with her knees together, offering Ryo her rolling office chair. He didn’t want to place himself at eye level with her crotch and opted to stand. She decided to take the chair instead… which made her eye level with his crotch. She took note of the pressure on the fabric of his jeans before forcing eye contact with him.

He tried to remember what kind of point he was fumbling around for out there, but for the life of him, he couldn’t think of it. The only thing that was in his head was how adorable she looked in that fluffy robe.

“Actually, you did remind me of something. I think it’s around here somewhere...” She pulled open a different drawer and sifted through paperwork. With an exclamation, she pulled out a folder and handed it to him. “I figured that’s what you were nervous about.”

Confused, he opened the folder to see her STD testing results, all negative. “They said it was a good idea to cover my bases when I went in for my birth control consultation.” Jun swiveled happily in her seat. “Lucky me, I’m clean as a whistle!”

Ryo could only slowly nod and hand the folder back, still not sure what to say. She decided to help him along. “Earlier, it sounded like you wanted to talk about where our boundaries are. When I invited you over, I thought that I would stay friendly with a strictly hands-off policy, but… I wasn’t expecting you to change that!” She cuddled her fluff with excitement, kicking out her feet.

He rolled his eyes, embarrassed, and decided to sit down on the desk instead. He cleared his throat. “That was… that was a moment of weakness. That’s all.” When her only response was to look at him adorably, he offered a plea. “Please don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Your secret is safe with me!” She saluted him with a beaming grin. He wasn’t too sure of that, but she elaborated. “If the guys at Kamogawa Gym catch word that I’ve been making out with The Executioner, they’re either going to kick me out, or come after you with pitchforks. Either way, I don’t want to get them involved.”

The memory of her face bruised and bloodied by his own hand made him sick. “You’re right. I’m sorry, by the way. I’ve hated myself for so long because I hit you. After you told me what really happened and Kumi backed up your story, I realized that I ruined everything because I refused to give you a chance. I just wanted you to give up on me, because that’s what I deserved.”

His apology and reason made her heart ache. “But that’s not what either of us needed. I wanted closure,” she stopped to smile, “and now that I have it, I’m hoping you can stop hating yourself now, because I certainly don’t hate you.”

He watched her eyes gleam at him, and he shook his head. “I still don’t get what you see in me.”

She side-eyed him. “You saw it yourself when I finished the carving down there. Isn’t that why you kissed me?” Her lips curled on that last part.

He blushed, feeling pinned open. “I… Ugh. I did that as a joke, but then… I didn’t want it to be.” He continued to turn red. “You… you feel so nice...”

Jun looked at him with adulation, but then she dialed up into gleeful exuberance, curling up in the chair and pulling the hood tight over her face, squealing with joy.

He could only smile at this tiny thing making herself tinier.

She quickly resumed a professional posture, clearing her throat, but not the wide smile from her face. “Right! Boundaries! I forgot! So where are we now, and where do we draw the line?”

Ryo could only stare off into space. “I… don’t know, really. Everything happened so fast. I haven’t even told you I love you yet –” He halted, then put his hands over his face. She started squealing and hiding in her robe again.

In a rich, low voice, he said the words while still covering his face. “I love you, Junko.”

She stopped her hysterics, realizing the gravity of the situation. He lowered his hands, his eyes staring back at her with an undefended softness. The glow of her face started to match his. “I love you too, Ryo.”

They were quiet for a while before he spoke up. “Well… there’s one boundary passed...”

She started to giggle. “Funny how that came after you hoisted me up onto your chest and peeked at me in the shower!” She laughed harder.

“Oh, goddammit...” He held his face once more.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t tease like that. I’m getting too riled up...” She averted her eyes, snuggling deep into her robe.

He swallowed hard. “Same here.” The silence that followed didn’t cool them down one bit.

“So, what are your limits, Ryo?”

He couldn’t answer. All he could think about was his actions at the bathroom door. “I don’t know anymore. I want everything, and nothing. I… I don’t want to lose control, but… damn, I didn’t think I’d want it so bad...” He covered up his face again, but he looked up when he felt her hand on his shoulder.

“Then let’s take a few steps back. There’s still a lot of baggage to unpack with us. Maybe we should start with being more honest with each other, and draw the line at a hug.”

Ryo lowered his head, but gave a shallow nod. “If you want honesty from me, then the truth is I hate myself right now for being so weak-willed. I can’t believe I let myself fall into this, and I feel like my boxing will go to shit for it.”

At first, Jun wanted to tear into him for thinking love is a weakness, but she mulled over his words. “Are you worried I’m going to take up too much of your time and energy, being a distraction?”

“… Partly. The other reason is that rage and hatred is what wins my matches. With you in the picture, it feels like I’m toothless… soft.”

She scrunched up her nose. “What kind of lame excuse is that? You don’t have SKILL that carries you through? Hard work? Cunning? Sheer grit? Rage and hatred is easy to come by if you know what pushes your buttons! It takes a lot more than that to floor your opponents. Don’t you DARE blame me for your potential losses! I expect you to communicate with me, tell me when you’re dieting, when you need me to leave you alone so you can focus on a match, when you need help getting angry before stepping into the ring, if need be...” She started to laugh. “I’ve pissed you off enough times to know that I’m not going to make you soft!” She gave a delicious smirk. “If anything, I do the opposite to you...”

It always amazed Ryo how she managed to make perfect sense while flaying him raw. He gave his own wry grin. “Right… So how am I supposed to tell the difference between you getting angry with me and flirting with me?”

She gave a knowing look. “When I start throwing things, you’ll KNOW I’m angry.”

He half winced at that warning. Gingerly picking up a butterfly knife, he flipped it open. “May I suggest having more blunt objects around, then?”

She snickered. “Fine. I’ll get some tennis balls, you big baby.” She pulled a lower eyelid down with her middle finger and stuck out her tongue, then laughed. “It’s probably for the best that we only see each other after matches, anyway. I’ll be busy with work, too.”

Despite his earlier gripe about weakness, he didn’t like the thought of seeing her so rarely. “Then… if we’re both busy, what will keep us together at that point?”

She pondered on how many times she had nearly given up on him, and that he did have good reason for thinking the relationship would fall apart if she were just someone to hug and talk to after matches. “So we’re together, huh? Well, I guess the time management issue is more up to you. If you want, I can join you for roadwork or you can make up time training here, once I fill out that corner out there with more equipment. You can always call, too, if you can afford privacy. We don’t have to spend ALL of our time together blushing at each other, you know. But, if you’re feeling really dangerous, just ask me to come over to your place and make dinner again!” She winked at him.

He folded the knife back up and set it down. “You really planned out everything, didn’t you?”

She shrugged. “Sometimes, I do plan for potential consequences. For instance, that carving down there is your alibi for tonight. If nothing happened between us, I would still get that thing finally done. If EVERYTHING happened, then all you’d have to do is tell enough truth that you were helping me with this incredibly detailed sculpture, and I was working on it for hours. Nobody would question it… I hope, anyway.”

His jaw dropped. “You sneaky little snake!”

She leaned over to look out the window. “Speaking of, the stain should be dry by now. You can go home, we keep all of this a secret, and you can keep talking to me like I’m a thorn in your side… and I’ll keep needling you like the flirt I am.” She turned to him. “Isn’t that right, Ryo-chan?”

He gave a suspicious smile. “I don’t know if I can trust you to keep this a secret.”

She leaned in with a taunting look. “I passed for a guy for six months, didn’t I? If that’s anything to gauge with, then you’ve got six months to figure out how to deal with the consequences when the news breaks. And I can tell you this,” she pointed a finger at him, “considering that gossip flew fast about me before, you had better believe it when I say it’s going to be very difficult for us to keep this under wraps from now on. I’ll plug the leaks at the Kamogawa Gym, but you have to keep quiet around your sister. Sound good to you?” He nodded, still in disbelief that he has to do this now.

Jun continued. “Anytime you want to disguise your conversations with me, you call me Tagawa or Jun. When the coast is clear, you call me Junko. Do you have any preference for how I address you?”

He blinked a few times. “Uh, I guess keep doing what you’ve been doing. But stop calling me Ryo-chan. … In public, anyway.”

“Alright… Ryo-sama,” she teased, but took a moment to make herself clear. “I am serious, though, about how difficult it’s going to be for us to keep this a secret. Kumi-san knows that I flirt with you, but she’s seen how that flies. For all Makunouchi knows, I’m done with you. Everything else is hearsay, but over time, our emotions are going to show, the rumors are going to build up, and people will investigate… and then the lies will start.” She tenderly held his hand. “I don’t want to lie about you, Ryo, and I don’t like the thought of you lying about me, either. So I’m telling you this now: I’ll try to work things out so that we can still tell enough truth to cover our asses, but I can only do so much. If I get cornered, then I’m going to be honest. Can you promise me that you won’t flip out if that happens?”

He gazed at her tenderly. “I’ll try. Thanks for the warning, though. But if anyone starts bugging me, I’ll want to shut them up the only way I know how.”

“Knowing how cowardly people tend to be, they’ll probably try to get info out of me first before ever going to you.” She examined her fingernails, checking for the dirt she equated with said cowards.

He groaned, knowing she was right. “Just tell them to leave you alone.”

“To them, that’s just admitting that I’m guilty.”

He grasped her hand into his. “Then you tell them to answer to me if they’re so sure of themselves.”

She closed her eyes and slowly nodded. “Well, whatever you tell people— with either words or fists— make sure it’s the latter if they spew shit about the impossibility of you landing a girl. Those are fightin’ words.”

He smiled wide. “Would you do the same?”

She flipped her middle finger defiantly. “I will fucking fight them in the street if they talk shit about you.”

He laughed. “Yeah, this isn’t going to stay a secret for very long.”

She lightly bopped him on the arm. “Come on, I need to get dressed. I still have to sign that carving and take photos before securing it onto Cherry.”

“Cherry...?”

“Cherry Bomb, the name of my bike.”

“Oh.” He stood up off of the desk. His feet stopped halfway to the door. “It’s so weird to say it, but… you’re my girlfriend now, aren’t you?”

She grinned, holding his hand. “I like the sound of that...”

He continued to fight off the disbelief. “… And I’m your boyfriend – oof.”

She gave him a hug. “No, you’re still my Horseman of Hunger and… Determination,” she giggled, snuggling into his chest.

He forgot the part about drawing the line at a hug, not sure which side of the line it was on. He gingerly wrapped his arms around her, squeezing at the soft robe. They lingered for a bit, Ryo stroking her partly dried mop of hair.

She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes. “You’re so warm. I could fall asleep on you right now.”

He didn’t want to let go of her. His hand brushed up against her neck, making her snuggle up tighter.

The urge started to come back.

Her soft skin under his palm gave it the desire to wander. He started to massage her nape, and she gave a light groan of pleasure. It started to move for Ryo.

“Mmm, a back massage would feel good right about now. I forget how worn out I get from carving sometimes.” Shortly after the words left her mouth, she felt his grasp leave her side and join his other hand at massaging her shoulders. She started to moan with pleasure.

She was close to nodding off when he stopped. The grave tone in his voice made her open her eyes.

“Junko, I… don’t think this is going to work… drawing the line at a hug...” She didn’t want to speak, her mind was too drowsy. Instead, he continued. “Do you promise you won’t tell anyone what we do tonight?”

The drowsiness turned to amorous feelings. “I promise. Nothing will make me want to jeopardize this.”

He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I want to erase the line completely.”

“Are you sure you want to lose control like this?”

He paused, taking in her genuine concern for him. “I’m not losing control. I’m taking it.”

Smiling, she slid her hand down and grabbed his ass cheek. “All I ask is you use a condom, then.”

His hands slid down under her robe, and she untied it to let it drop to the floor.

He kissed her neck and felt her entire back, grabbing her butt as well. As he pulled off his sweater and she started unbuttoning his pants, he paused for a second.

“Umm… I just wanted to let you know… I’m… a virgin...”

Her eyes glistened back up at his, unfettered by his confession. “Yeah? And?”

When he returned a sour look, she giggled. “So what? Everyone is at some point. If it’s something you want to keep, now’s the time to say so!”

He had to concentrate past her kissing his abs. “What I’m saying is… I don’t really know what I’m doing. I mean, I know how it works, but, uhh...”

“Don’t think about it (smooch) too much. Just (mmm) let me know if (lick) you need any help.”

When she had reached her hand into his underwear and caressed his shaft, his knees buckled. At that point, they decided it was best to move to the futon.

As sexy as he tried to be, he found out that jeans and socks are a tag team for killing off any smooth moves. He felt some relief from the embarrassment when she, too, read the inside of the condom box and helped him put one on. The awkwardness continued when he became acutely aware of how his tall frame failed to match her shorter one without some maneuvering. Finally, he gave up and simply lowered himself down as flat as possible. As hot as it was to have her naked body pressed upon his, it was nowhere near as sensational for him to penetrate… or so he thought. Two strokes in, and she had to tell him that he was missing completely. The faux pas didn’t even bother her as she led him in to the right position. Hearing her inhale sharply and let it out with a sensuous cry was a wet dream come true. Just when he thought he was getting the hang of things, he accidentally slipped out, frustrating him immensely. Wanting to just get it over with, his actions became rough, and she had to soothe him back down to taking his time. Trying again, this time with her legs wrapped around him, he finally found his rhythm and worked up a sweat before he finally came. Despite his struggles, an indescribable ambrosia washed through his body, causing his mind to swim. As he started to wind down from his orgasm, Jun gave a light giggle. He opened his eyes to see that she was completely unfazed from the arduous coitus. Little seeds of self doubt sprouted and grew fast. Still in a haze, he withdrew. Jun was quick to crawl out from underneath him, adding fertilizer to his seeds. She passed him the waste basket and a box of tissues, letting him discard the used rubber and wipe down. While she was kissing his neck and giggling, he was feeling the aftertaste of regret.

“What’s so funny.”

She stopped, becoming concerned for him. “… Are you okay, Ryo?”

He was silent, sitting by the trash can, wishing that he could fit himself inside.

“I don’t know. I just know that this doesn’t feel right.”

She caressed his shoulder. “Ryo… why didn’t you say anything? If you were uncomfortable going through with this, you didn’t have to keep going...”

He hand waved the implication. “It’s not that. You just seemed… unimpressed.”

Jun was relieved that it was just unrealistic expectations bothering him. “Ohhh, Ryo! I told you to not think about that too much! I was having fun, honest!”

“You’re having fun laughing at me.”

She snuggled him tightly. “Oh, come on! You don’t win the belt after your first sparring session, Ryo-chan! You need practice. Lot’s… (smooch) and lots of practice.”

He looked to the ceiling before wincing with laughter and face palming. “Please don’t use boxing analogies for sex!”

She tried to pull him back under the covers. “You know I’m right...”

With a defeated sigh and grumble, he conceded as they both fell over. They cuddled up together and talked for almost half an hour, Ryo asking what it was like to be a woman experiencing a man’s world, and Jun making him laugh when she got to the part about her disguise. She asked him what went through his mind every time they met, and she responded his answers with her own honest feelings. The more they talked, the more the pieces fell into place. Ryo became bemused, realizing how much of her actions were heavy flirting.

“I was wondering why you were acting so weird after our spar, asking such invasive questions. You were flirting with me the whole time.” He gave her a sly sneer.

“I got carried away,” she bashfully admitted.

He looked away, rubbing a finger across the bridge of his nose. “Did you notice how much I was flirting back at you?”

The realization settled on her like a draped cloth. “Wait! You mean you liked me… as a guy!?”

“Uhh… I was seriously questioning it. In the end, I decided I wasn’t ready to give people another excuse to loathe me, and that if you could make my sister happy, it was worth the pain.” Ryo stared up at the ceiling.

Jun looked upon him with a guilty conscience. “I wish I had told you the truth that night. I almost did, but I chickened out at the last second.”

Ryo closed his eyes. “I wish I hadn’t chickened out, either. I had figured out what you meant by ‘pretty little thing’ when all you could do was stare at the sidewalk, blushing...”

Jun wasn’t surprised, but she was still struck by the insight. “To be honest, I was more worried you really would be into guys, because not only would I be shit out of luck, I would have had to hope that my brain would kick in faster than my hormones and tell you the truth before you found out the hard way.”

He smiled, reaching under the covers. “Looking at it now, I think we would have recovered quickly. … You know how I told you to ‘be careful what you wish for’ at the stairs?”

She caressed his side. “Yeah… I thought it was a threat...”

“What I really wanted to say was, ‘Be careful what you wish for, because that cold, dark void of space could be crushing on you right now,’” Ryo leaned in close with his words, locking the bridge of his nose with hers. “What do you think about that, pretty little thing?”

Jun was enamored with his deep voice tempting her. “I think I’d like that...” She slowly tilted up to meet his lips. Half a minute in, she broke it off, laughing piteously. “With our luck, your sister would’ve caught us, she would run to her bedroom crying, and everything would still be a confusing mess.”

“That, or I would quickly find out what was under your shirt, yell about my confusion, and then we’d get caught...” He gave her another kiss, caressing her hip. “Still, I would have rather taken the brunt of it. I love you, no matter who you are!”

Jun giggled as his foreplay enticed her to grab another condom, this time with her demanding to ride on top. He willingly obliged, checking her out before laying down. For a brief moment, he closed his eyes. _Ten years of nothing, and now twice in one night!_

“Hold on, I want to try something...”

Her words made him open one lid, mere seconds before a wave of pleasure hit him like a train. He sat up, gasping in astonishment. The sensation only intensified when he saw that the root cause was Jun going down on him. He silently screamed as her tongue stroked his naked cock. Feeling the vibration of her moans forced him to make a decision very quickly. With a concentrated effort, he slammed his hand repeatedly on the floor, tapping out. “WAIT, WAIT! I’M GONNA CUM IF YOU KEEP DOING THAT!”

She quickly retracted with a slurp, causing Ryo to twitch half of his body.

“Oh, sorry!”

He was visibly shaking, slumping back down on the futon. “It’s okay, I just… I wanted to last more than five minutes, not five seconds!”

She laughed, putting the condom on for him. After she seductively slid up and mounted him, he decided he liked this position a lot better. It left his hands free to stroke her defined body, and the view was so much better. She got into it more than the first time, riding him slowly with heavy breathing and talking dirty. He tried to do better to hold it in, but seeing her bouncing on top of him was too intense for his wild lust and blew his load before she could climax. Stars danced in front of his eyes as the light glared down at him from the ceiling. _Now this is a knockout I don’t mind! Dammit, Junko, now you’re making me use boxing analogies..._

Her expression slightly distracted him. She pouted.

“Ahhh, I just can’t get off in time!”

He blinked stupidly. “What?”

She dismounted him, laying on her back. “Mmm, I try to ride down on the clit, but I can’t quite make it reach.”

“… I’m sorry, the what?”

She laughed, and explained what she meant. Ryo didn’t remember ever hearing about such a thing existing. It was then she decided to give him assistance in locating the sweet spot, guiding his fingers where they needed to go. When he stroked her like she told him to do, she let out a howl of pleasure that shook him to his core. In stunned fascination, he watched her writhe and struggle against an invisible force. The technique and communication between them took some getting used to, but ten minutes later, she screamed long, loud, and high pitched from a long overdue orgasm. While tremors still rippled through her, Ryo slipped on a fresh condom in lightning fast speed and begged to fuck her again. She was more than ready to accept. It took some effort, but he came once more. Both covered in sweat, they fell back onto the futon with a moan. They rested for a bit, slowly gaining back upper brain function.

“Oh, my GOD. That was amazing! I… didn’t know you had anything left!” Jun ran her palm over her forehead, clearing it of straying hair strands.

He turned to her slowly, a smug grin clearing his face long enough for him to kiss her cheek. “Hn-hnn. Don’t underestimate me.” He kissed down her neck, and she squealed from her still oversensitive nerves ringing ticklish pleasure. They both giggled, and he continued to tease her playfully. After finally relaxing for a while, she turned to him, giving a dry swallow before she could speak. “I really need to go get myself a drink. You wanna join me?”

He spoke with a mellowness that was alien to his nature. “Yeah. That sounds good. I just need to clean up first.”

They wobbled up from the floor, Jun loosely putting on her robe and Ryo grabbing the covers to wrap around himself. As they went downstairs, she half-joked to him. “I need to get you your own robe for when you come over next time.”

“You make it sound like I’ll only visit you just to bang… I’ll buy my own robe.”

Jun turned on the kitchen light and rooted around in the fridge. When Ryo accepted her offer for orange juice, she pulled a half full carton out of the fridge, handing it to him. “I don’t feel like having dishes in the sink. Here.” She pulled a bottle of water for herself. Ryo downed most of the carton. She gave a knowing smirk as she gulped down most of her water as well. They sat down at the small kitchen table.

“I had no idea you were so hot blooded, Ryo-chan...” She took another sip.

He snorted. “I didn’t know, either.” He shook his head and drank some more juice. “I’m such a foolish idiot. Had you chasing me this whole time, and my head was too far up my own brooding ass to realize I was getting the opportunity of a lifetime.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. It was a rough path, and it’s always difficult to open yourself up when you’ve been hurt so many times.” She finished her bottle and stretched. “I just hope you don’t regret anything tonight, because I think you needed some kind of release.”

He sat back in his chair and raised the carton to the air. “I’m going to regret wanting to move tomorrow, that’s for sure.”

“I hear you!” She exclaimed, and they both laughed. “When do you go in for work?” Jun played with the bottle on the table.

“Half past ten. Glad I’ll have some time to rest before then, but I’ll still have to pretend I’m fine for evening training.” He set the carton down on the floor.

She spun the cap on the table before twisting it back onto the bottle. “I have to go to the gym early tomorrow, too. I am not looking forward to pretending, either. Those guys are bloodhounds when it comes to secrets.”

Ryo reclined in the chair, interlocking his fingers behind his head. “Too bad you can’t skip that place and work out here, or better yet, come to Toho to work out with me...”

She laughed. “That would NOT work. It’s bad enough that I would be following you like body odor, but to have your coach see me again...”

He smirked. “Still, it would be fun to try,” his eyes glazed, appreciating her mind and body. “You’re so beautiful. Why didn’t I see it sooner?”

She got up and went over to him for a tender kiss. “Because. You were a foolish idiot.” She kissed him again before laughing.

He pulled at her robe, returning a kiss of his own. “You’d better watch your mouth.”

She gently flicked her tongue up to her top lip. “I don’t need to watch it. You watch it enough for me.”

He pulled her onto his blanket-wrapped lap and embraced her. The kissing became more intense, their tongues exploring different ways to snake across each other. They were at it for a while, groping each other as it progressed. She found him standing tall once more. She broke off the tongue play, mildly surprised.

“Again?!”

He gave a low, evil laugh and produced a couple more condoms he snagged on the way out. “Like I said, don’t underestimate me.”

He gently lifted her onto the table. “You made me curious to try something new...” He proceeded to kiss her down her chest, her stomach, and tracing down her hip line. When the hint became loud and clear, she became concerned, but excitedly horny. “H-hold on! I probably taste like latex down there! You’re not going to… are you?”

He spoke, poised above her trimmed muff. “It didn’t stop you from trying me out. Thanks for the orange juice, by the way.” He gave her a long lick that sent her moaning again. He experimented with different movements, finding a good combination that made her legs tremble. He stopped long enough to put a condom on and continued to eat her out. When he found the secret of lightly sucking on the clit, he had to restrain her legs due to massive twitch fits. He gave a few extra rolls of the tongue while sucking on her and she loudly climaxed once again. He switched to railing her, holding her up from falling off the small table. His breathing went ragged as he got off. He gave her a few more excited thrusts, snarling over her shoulder.

“GOD, I WANT TO FUCK YOU ALL NIGHT!”

All Jun could do was make gurgling noises while her head lulled over the edge of the table.

When his sexual fury at last ebbed and he held her tight against him, Jun rose a weak arm and tilted a pointing finger.

“Now that… was an amazing use of the flicker.”

He started laughing again. “I said no boxing analogies!”

The two of them swayed and struggled to get the energy to hoist themselves upright. While Ryo cleaned himself off, Jun was still propping herself up on the table by her elbows. The bubbles popped around her head, trying to figure out the niggling thought that was bugging her. She was staring at the wall clock, and it finally registered that it was getting close to midnight.

“Holy shit… it’s getting late.”

Ryo groggily looked at the clock as well. “… Whoops.”

She stumbled her way to the stairs. “I need to get dressed… and shit, I still need to take care of the carving!”

He followed her into her room, still holding the other condom in his hand. When she started looking through her dresser, he couldn’t help but ask.

“One more time?”

A pair of panties flew at his head and draped over his nose.

“I’m throwing in the towel,” she laughed.

He playfully sneered, yanked the panties off of his head, and went over to hug her from behind, kissing her neck. “You thought I was kidding, didn’t you?”

Pulling a shirt over her head, she looked at him incredulously. “With your stamina, I can see how you won the championship belt!”

Following a kiss, he unfurled the panties from his fist and dangled them between his finger and thumb. “I’ll be taking the championship underwear, too.”

She giggled, lightly shoving him out of the way so she could put on the rest of her clothes. “Hurry up and get dressed!”

On their way out into the warehouse, Jun noticed the answering machine light blinking by the phone. She furrowed her brow, convinced that it wasn’t like that when she ordered food earlier. Ryo froze in place when the message started playing.

“Hey, It’s Kumi. I know you said it might take a while, but I wanted to check in to see how things are going. Call me back when you’re done! Thanks, and goodbye.” His skin started to crawl at the second message. “Hey… it’s Kumi again. Um… It’s really getting late. My brother doesn’t usually stay up past eleven, so… can you call me back, please? I want to make sure he’s alright. Thanks...”

They looked at each other with dire concern. Judging from the time stamps on the messages, Jun was too busy screaming in sheer ecstasy to hear the phone. Jun picked up the receiver, but rehearsed a few words before dialing up the number. Ryo tried to flag her down, but she was waving back at him to stay back, switching to a fake relaxed posture when Kumi answered.

“Heeeey! Sorry, I just got your messages! I can’t hear the phone when I’m using power tools. ...We both had earplugs in. Well yeah, I have to take into consideration your brother’s well being, too. The warehouse tends to amplify loud sounds. ...Yeah, it’s finally finished! I’m rather proud of it! Don’t worry, you’ll get to see what it looks like! Listen, I still have to put some stuff away and clean up, but I’ll be taking your brother home shortly! He was a good sport. He might be sore from holding the same pose, though. I’m sorry, I’ll get him home so he can rest up. Okay. See you in a bit! Goodbye!”

When she hung up, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t like to lie?”

“There’s a difference between lying and arranging true statements to cover your ass.”

He smacked hers when she went to fetch her camera. “I was in a lot of different poses, though...”

Jun giggled, but hurried to take photos of the piece and had Ryo hold it at an angle so she could carve her signature on the bottom and the date of completion. She ran back into her room and came back with a wad of bills in hand.

He waved his hands in a negative fashion. “Whoa, whoa, I’m not taking your money!” He felt like a gigolo getting paid off for services.

Jun grimaced, holding it out to him. “Then just hold on to it for me. If Kumi’s really mad, use it to get her something nice as an apology.”

“This is ten thousand yen. Didn’t you finish up after two hours…?” He waved the bills at her.

“Don’t argue.” She patted his arm.

While she was putting together a box, He rubbed up against her.

“Just one more? I want to hear your screams echo out here...” He fondled her gently.

She wanted to yell at him, but his special request made her loins perk up.

He hugged her, leaning in close. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. Listen… I know my next opponent is from your gym, so… we’re probably going to have to avoid each other for a long while. I know you’re tired and it’s cold out here, but… can I just have one more for the road? I miss you already...”

His words rang true with her own feelings. She now wanted to savor his touch on her body. She leaned in to his embrace. Leading his hand up her shirt, she spoke lightly with a raw throat.

“One more time...”

Jun picked out a table to brace herself on and he bent her over. His hands worked quickly, undoing her jeans as well as his own. The familiar sound of tearing packaging and latex crinkling braced her for impact. He had no trouble reaching around to her front and fingering her. The echoing of her moans provided the desired effect. They took their time to enjoy themselves and they both came within seconds of each other. He ended up being just as loud as her. They were reluctant to move on, but the cold started to bite at their perspiration. They were still reluctant to move, because now both of their legs were wrecked.

“… Uh, Ryo, we need to get going. Now,” she said with mild urgency. He had, in a sense, nailed her to the table.

“I think I may have overdone it...” He started to laugh, still slumped over her.

She was too euphoric to be mad at him, and started laughing as well. “No shit!”

They got cleaned up, put on their coats, and got to the task of painstakingly packing and securing the statue to the back end of her bike with bungee cords.

“You’re okay with holding this thing down while I drive, right?” She shook the sleepiness from her head.

“Like I have a choice? I haven’t ridden this thing in ages. You drive, and don’t crash.”

Jun opened the shutter doors and closed them back up while Ryo walked the bike outside. Putting on their helmets, they straddled the bike with a painful groan. Jun was driving in grandma mode the whole way back to the apartment. Ryo kept one arm around the box, and one arm around her waist, something that Jun felt was a nice last touch to the night.

It was a quarter to one when they pulled up. The lights were still on, and Jun spotted movement in the window. She got off of the bike and took off her helmet, putting his away while he steadied the box.

“Be careful. We’re being watched...” She warned under her breath.

Ryo forced himself to not look over his shoulder, instead focusing on removing the bungee cords and handing them over for her to stash under the seat as well.

“I see what you mean about things being difficult from now on,” he whispered, hoisting the box up into his arms.

She spoke aloud, giving him a salute. “Alright, take good care of the Horseman for me. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mashiba-san!”

“Don’t ever ask me to do this again, Tagawa,” he winked.

When she sat back down on her bike, she glanced at the apartment before leaning back to have him block her line of vision to the door.

“Love you, Ryo-sama,” she whispered.

“Love you too, Junko,” he replied in his low, velvety tone.

She gave a light nod and put on her helmet and started off down the street.

Carrying the heavy box up the stairs, Ryo didn’t remember them being so difficult to climb. He did his best to pretend like nothing was wrong when Kumi opened up the door for him.

She was far from pleased, but she was too distracted with curiosity over the box to be truly upset.

“I… I didn’t think she would be sending it over here!”

He set the box down and undid the pinwheel folded flaps, pulling the statue out by the base from the packing peanuts and setting it on the coffee table.

Kumi let out a gasp of amazement. “Onii-chan!! That’s so amazing!! She did all of that tonight?”

“Most of it, yes.”

She gently touched at the contours of the cape. “It looks so much like you! It’s so scary looking, though.”

“That was the point.” A tiny smirk crept in on his face.

“...So when do we give it back to her?”

He had to work to keep his smile down to mild amusement. “She said I could keep it.”

“EEEEHHH?! But this thing is huge! Where are we going to put it?”

“I want to say by the front door, but I’ll keep it in my room for now.” He lifted it off of the glass table and started down the hallway. “It’s late. You should get some sleep.”

“Onii-chan! Are… are you on good terms with her now?” She called out to him, halting his footsteps.

“Normally, I would say no. I swore to our parents that if anybody ever hurt you, they would pay dearly. I would never forgive them, nor would I forget. …Tell me, Kumi. Have you forgiven Tagawa for what she’s done to you?”

She wasn’t expecting to be put on the spot like that. “Um... yeah, I guess so. She’s –”

“DON’T GUESS. Have you forgiven her, or not?” His stern voice felt genuine.

She got flustered. “Y-yes! I’ve forgiven her! Months ago, really!”

“...Okay, then. If you’ve forgiven her, and she has worked hard to make amends, then… I will make an exception.” He tossed the ten thousand yen onto the table and resumed his path to his bedroom.

She looked after him in surprise. Thinking on his words, she started to smile, followed by a yawn.

 _Onii-chan… I think she’s starting to grow on you…_ At first, the thought seemed sweet, but a tinge of paranoia colored her thoughts. _Please don’t make me regret my words, Tagawa-san._

The next morning, Ryo was almost ready to head out the door when something felt very wrong. Almost like clockwork, Kumi let out a shrill scream from the laundry room.

“ONII-CHAAAAAAAAN!!”

He felt a cold dread come over him. Opening the door, he saw her by the washer, facing away from him while holding his jeans. She slowly lifted her arm away from them, pulling a long swatch of condoms from the back pocket. Her face was horrified.

“GAAAH!”

Ryo woke up with a start. Catching his breath, he quietly went out to check the laundry basket. His anxiety temporarily loosened when his front pockets yielded the earplugs, but suddenly remembered the panties in the back pocket. With a relieved sigh, he ambled back to his bedroom with only the glow of the street lamp lighting his room, letting him tuck away his prize in the back of his dresser drawer. Slumping onto the pillow, he tried to go back to sleep when the embittered part of his mind decided to wake up and pester him relentlessly. He tossed and turned until finally curling the blanket tightly around himself. “That’s enough,” he stated quietly. _What happened, happened, and I don’t regret it. I don’t care if it was a trap, or if I’m getting soft, or if she breaks my heart. I’ve dealt with it before. Even if the worst of the worst happens, I don’t care, because she asked for it, and I made her pay dearly._ He started to gently laugh, thinking about her wobbly legs. _So if any asshole tries to talk shit about me about being weak, then let them whine like a little bitch. I KNOW I earned it… five times over._

He looked over at the statue, proud of her for her work. _You earned it, too._ Thinking back to hugging her in her cozy robe, her warm smile, and her freshly washed hair smelling of strawberries and coconut, he fell back sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY JEEZ. I know there's way more lewd stuff elsewhere on the internet, but still. Can't help it, though; I am all for healthy sexual relationships between sensible, consenting adults. They finally got their ashes hauled.
> 
> • (cracks knuckles) OKAY, first off, sorry this chapter is so long. It counts as a novelette, really. Second, sorry for the copious notes on top of it.  
>  • There was a possibility that Jun could call up Imura Mari and ask if she had access to Sendou’s number, but since she isn’t mentioned anywhere in the story, it wasn’t going to be made an option.  
>  • I think the folding scythe was a subconscious reference to the one in THE FRIGHTENERS.  
>  • Right up until posting, it read, “glazed wanton” instead of “unbridled lust.” I know “wanton” and “wonton” are not the same, but I kept reading it as such.  
>  • If any chapter were to have music, it would be this one. Try to imagine Ryo’s theme but played with smooth saxaphone and on a more positive key after he gets pulled into her room.  
>  • And you thought Jun was thirsty when she first set foot in Kamogawa Gym…  
>  • Ryo was turned on by the photo of Jun in a suit, too. For the record, in this story he’s cisgender demisexual, while Jun is transgender/gender fluid heterosexual/bi-curious. Due to the stress from passing as male for so long, she only feels comfortable presenting as male for brief periods of time in private.  
>  • “You feel so nice… You feel SO nice… SO NIIIIIIIIICE!”  
>  • Her bike is named Cherry. Ryo popped a wheelie on it. Foreshadowing!  
>  • The whole thing with Jun hugging him and massaging her neck is a nod to that one scene from Vampire Hunter D where Doris gives consent and D’s struggling to not give in.  
>  • Speaking of necks, apparently neck massages are a thing with Taurus signs, even though she acts more like a Sagittarius. As for Ryo, he’s a Cancer, but he ended up getting written like a Scorpio…  
>  • The moment after she reaches into his pants, you can almost hear the referee scream “TAORETAAAA!”  
>  • In the months that Ryo was left alone, every now and then he would be haunted by her words of confession. When he finally worked up the nerve to privately ask himself, “Could I satisfy you?” the horrible imagery of her getting beaten by his own hand screamed back at him, “NO.” So, when he’s gone through this whole song and dance and her response is, “k,” he’s not too thrilled.  
>  • Ryo trying to flirt is the equivalent of Moe the Moblin writing back to Maggie in Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker.  
>  • Ryo wanting to kiss Jun by the staircase always makes me think of the music video for Depeche Mode’s “Policy of Truth.”  
>  • “Ten years of nothing, and now twice in one night!” Ryo’s pretty much quoting Den from Heavy Metal.  
>  • I swear, the main reason I even wrote this filth in the first place was because I wanted an excuse to write the one-liners.  
>  • This is what happens when ya boi has to stew on the back burner for months; he turns his pelvis to powder.  
>  • Jun, face it: your warehouse is now a carving-themed love hotel.  
>  • Kumi’s not stupid, by the way. She has her gut feeling that they… buried more than the hatchet, but is still a little wary about bad blood between them.


	20. NO LONGER IN THE SHADE

Jun was never one to hit the snooze button, but today was doubly the exception. When she finally pulled herself into a sitting position and stretched, her soreness was a reminder to last night’s events, second only to the open box of condoms still sitting on her desk. She smiled and laughed, falling back into bed with a thump. Having a minor squealing fit, she pulled herself out from under the covers and returned the box to her desk drawer. The toothy smile barely left her face the entire time she got ready for the day. The only time she wasn’t was while making the ache-ridden, icy trek to and from the shower. She weighed her options, wondering if she could just skip gym for the day.

 _Dammit, I can’t. I’m supposed to turn in the membership fees for December._ She scrubbed her hands over her face, trying to work out the giddy exhaustion. _Ugh. What in holy hell am I going to say? How will I act? … I bet he’s having the same problem._

She did a couple of laps around the warehouse, foregoing her weighted backpack. It helped get her feeling closer to normal, and she left to go do errands before arriving at the gym.

Parking her bike in the alleyway and latching the giant padlock over the chains, she reviewed her tactics in her head. _Alright. Stay neutral and concentrate on the pain. If anyone asks about my mood, leave it at finishing a difficult project. Anything Takamura says, deflect it with the cold facts of my work. But if they outright ask if I’ve had sex…_ She heaved a sigh, _… Just yell for Kamogawa and chalk it up as harassment._

As a precaution, Jun bit at her tongue before entering the building for a focal point of pain. She only had to open the door to find out that it wasn’t needed.

The group was standing there, looking serious. Hearing the door slide open, Aoki, Kimura, and Takamura watched her with suspicious eyes. Ippo was the only one who had a worried look. She paid them no mind as she put away her bag, which wasn’t carrying much. She knew she wasn’t going to get far, but pretended like nothing was wrong when the guys cut in front of her on her way to the equipment.

“Hey, Himomame-kun! I heard you pulled an all-nighter...” Takamura grinned despicably.

She allowed some of the happiness to shine through. “Yeah, I finally finished a carving that I’ve been wanting to complete for months. It’s supposed to be one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Death. I might eventually make the other three, but I want to wait before carving a horse again. I took pictures, but I still need to treat the negatives. I’ll show you guys tomorrow.”

“Oh, that sounds pretty cool!” Aoki seemed genuinely interested, but Kimura elbowed him in the ribs.

“Strange though, I’ve worked long hours before, and nobody seemed to care until today… how did you hear about it?” She gave Ippo an accusing glare, and he broke with ease.

“I’m sorry, Tagawa-san! Kumi-san called last night, she was worried about her brother! I’m just glad you’re not bruised up this time—” Takamura whacked him upside the head to shut him up.

“Sorry to cause any worry. I needed reference for the Horseman, and he seemed like the perfect person to use as a model.” She put on her own creepy expression to match her words. “Kumi did call me, but I couldn’t hear the phone over the power tools. I sent the carving over as an apology.” Jun spoke like nothing was unusual about this behavior.

“Why would you invite the guy over who beat you bloody?” Kimura’s muscles tensed recalling the memory.

She didn’t bat an eye. “You gave me some bruises in a spar before, and you have one of my carvings. Takamura tried to knock my block off, and he’s got two pieces. You got a point, here?”

Takamura took offense at getting called out. “Oi, oi! Since when did I try to clobber you?”

Jun imitated weak swings at the heavy bag. “During my first days here. Bap… bap...whoosh,” she swung out of the way of an imaginary fist.

“Oh yeah…” He crossed his arms, looking up to the ceiling.

Kimura was still rankled. “That’s still insulting, inviting the enemy over when my match is coming up...”

She gave him a goading look. “I’m not the one fighting him! Why the hell should I revolve my work schedule around yours, anyway?” She turned to a more saccharine tone of sarcasm. “Would YOU prefer to model for the horseman, Pestilence, since you’re hardcore bugging me?”

Ippo stepped in before the bickering could get worse. “Let’s just talk about this later, okay?” The two of them begrudgingly turned away to get going on their sets.

Takamura yelled out as he walked away, “Remember, Himomame-kun! We want to see the photos!”

She jutted an angry thumb skyward without turning around.

Most of the workout went by without further incident. The irritation helped cover up the fatigue, and the lack of weights helped facilitate the roadwork. Before she left, Kimura felt obligated to talk with her. All she wanted to do was get on her bike and spray him with alley detritus from her back wheel. Still, she had a facade to maintain, and listened to him with a neutral stance.

“Hey, I’m sorry about being a jerk back there. You can’t blame us for being a little protective of you.” She refused to give him a reply. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, please don’t be mad with me. If you want, I can make it up to you by taking you out to that new hibachi place that opened up not far from here...”

“You mean the one that I carved the entrance lions for?” She held no enthusiasm in her words.

Kimura blinked for a couple of seconds. “Wait, YOU made those?!”

She gave a flat expression intended as a smile. “Worked on them since I got the warehouse.”

He rattled a nervous laugh. “Oh, right… it has been a while, huh? I don’t even know where you live now… Maybe we can talk about it over dinner!”

Jun slipped into her customer service mode for dealing with stubborn clients while she unlocked her bike and pulled out her helmet. “I’m sorry, but I’ve got a lot of work to do, and payments to make. Perhaps another time? I wouldn’t want to insult you by ruining your weight management so close to an important match. Enjoy your evening!”

He fumbled about for words. “Uh, yeah, sure! I mean, I’m not dieting yet, but maybe if I give you my number—”

She revved up the engine and peeled out of the alleyway into the clear street.

His optimism dissipated like the exhaust around him, feeling the sting of rejection once more. “Probably couldn’t hear me through the helmet.” He kicked a wad of trash out of the way and stuck his hands in his pockets. _Damn! I used to ride around like a tough guy, too! What the hell happened to me?_ He pulled his hands back out and smacked his forehead. “I could’ve gotten her flowers! Dumbass!!” He shushed himself up, looking toward the gym door. _Shit, I need to keep things on the down low if I don’t want Takamura ruining this, or worse… competing._

Jun was using more force than necessary for simple acts such as putting away her coat and checking her messages. Using her chainsaw for one of the bigger commissions was cathartic, but it didn’t completely get rid of the irritation. After she made a simple dinner, she went back to work on a smaller piece, but this time with the phone propped on her shoulder.

The Mashiba siblings were relaxing after dinner, catching a TV special before bedtime. The phone rang, and Ryo got up to answer.

“Who is this?” He roughly stated.

“Tagawa. I need to talk to you privately.”

“Oh, it’s you. No… why?” He glanced over at his sister, still watching the show. He quietly walked down the hall to his room.

“Well, shit. I’ll try to make it quick, then—”

“Now hold on a minute. I’m trying to think,” he feigned. Jun paused for a moment, hearing a door slide shut on the other end. “Hey, Junko. I think I can afford a few minutes before Kumi gets suspicious.”

Hearing him relax over the line eased her own nerves a little. “Hey, Ryo-sama. I’m not sure if you knew, but word already got out about your visit last night.”

He felt the blood sink from his face. “What.”

“Turns out I wasn’t the only one your sister called last night. Thankfully, it seems like she was just worried for your safety and mine. The guys at the gym gave me a small interrogation, but I think I handled it okay. I just need to show them the photographs of the carving tomorrow, which reminds me, I have to get to that later.”

He grumbled, peeking out of the doorway. “Well, that’s just great. Who the hell did she call?”

“You can have one of two guesses, both of which connect back to the gym.”

“This is bullshit...” He put his palm to his forehead, hoping to abate his sudden headache.

“I feel the same way. I don’t suppose I could meet up with you for roadwork soon? It would be nice to blow off some steam about entitled idiots nosing into our business… the guys at the gym, not your sister.”

“I figured. I usually do extra roadwork around the plaza when I have a match coming up. You can meet me at the taxi stand around seven tomorrow. Sorry, I have to hang up. You take care.”

“Good night.” Jun pulled the phone away as it clicked. With her reminder, she went to her dark room to develop the photos.

“Wooow! That is BADASS!!” Aoki’s mind was blown. Jun allowed herself a sliver of smug satisfaction as the photos of the Horsemen passed around.

“You do such amazing work so quickly, Tagawa-san!” Ippo felt a shiver ripple up his spine.

She wanted to gag at his words. “Quickly? You say that because you’re not the one WORKING on them.”

“You really gave it a creepy quality there, Himomame-kun!” Takamura furrowed his face into his Mashiba impersonation.

“Isn’t Death supposed to ride a PALE horse?” Kimura squinted with suspicion.

Jun’s eye twitched.

“Oh yeah, I heard something about that! I think Death is supposed to be a skeleton, too,” Aoki casually commented.

Jun was losing her battle at hiding her agitation. “OKAY, so I didn’t do a whole lot of research on this one. I started it a long time ago, and I forgot the details.”

“I hope you have an easier time making the other three!” Ippo beamed at the thought of seeing an entire set done and on display at a museum. Jun was not happy that she potentially roped herself into an agonizingly difficult project without a buyer in place. Some of the other gym mates had a look at the photos as well. She couldn’t make out his words, but she could tell that Kimura was making snarky comments as the photos made their rounds. The heavy bag took the brunt of her saltiness.

That night, Ryo almost started down the wrong direction for roadwork when he remembered the taxi stand. He had to take a second to brace himself for possible disappointment and headed in that direction. A genuine smile responded to seeing his new favorite person in the world. She took up his pace alongside him. They started chatting when they were no longer in earshot of the apartment. Ryo was rather glad that Jun could keep up with his roadwork while giving him entertaining company on a cold, lonely night. Even with residual soreness, the roadwork went faster than usual to the point that he had to mentally review his actions to make sure he didn’t cut corners. They were getting close to looping back to the apartment when Ryo decided to stop at the bridge overlooking the plaza.

Jun had a sad look on her face. “I… saw you here, that night I...” She rubbed her cheek, remembering how swollen it was. “I took a cab back home, and you were standing right here. You looked lost...”

He was caught off guard by the observation. “I had a lot to think about that night.” He made the motion of punching the bridge and scraping his knuckles against the concrete. She wandered over and snuggled next to him.

“The first year anniversary of your championship win is coming up soon.” She watched the specks of people march along like disorganized ants.

He gave a half smile. “Yeah, and I get to celebrate with a title defense.” His smile waned, tapping the concrete with his fist in thought. “I don’t know if I want you to come see me fight.”

Jun leaned on the bridge barrier. “I don’t know if I want to, either. I’ve got such mixed feelings about it, for both sides.”

Ryo gave her the side eye. “Don’t tell me you’d cheer for my opponent...”

Jun laughed a single bitter laugh. “No. Kimura has been low key irritating me for a long time. Still, he’s part of the gang, and as a member of the gym, I’m expected to support my gym mates. I can’t in good conscience join them up in the balcony this time.”

“I can get you a free ticket,” Ryo suggested.

“So you decided you want me to come see you fight?” She playfully elbowed him.

“I don’t know. It’s up to you.” He looked away, ashamed at his desire for her encouragement.

“I’ve never been to one of your matches, unfortunately. I think it’s high time I come cheer for you.”

He chuckled. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve got this title defense in the bag. No worries.”

Jun had a sense of unease. “… Don’t be so sure of that.”

He gave her a disgusted sneer. “Right. You’ve never seen one of my matches.”

“I said I’ve never BEEN to one. I know how brutal you are in the ring, Ryo-sama! I’ve seen the tapes! It’s not that I don’t have confidence in your skills, it’s just that there are two things that could completely trip up your chances of winning.”

He perked up, wondering if she was going to offer insider info. “Yeah? And what would they be?”

Jun suddenly felt ridiculous for getting uncomfortable over what were essentially baseless notions. “Don’t laugh, but… there’s this thing that I like to call, ‘The Kamogawa Grit.’ Maybe it’s because our coach is from the World War II era, but he has a knack for hammering the slag out of his boxers and polishing them sharp. Even the ones that don’t win championships don’t give up easily.” She took a breath, carefully eyeing his look of sarcastic disbelief. “The second thing, and possibly the more dangerous one, is spite. Kimura truly hates you with a passion, and the bruises I got cemented his vendetta. I have no idea what his strategy is, or if he has one at all, but we both know that anger is a powerful motivator,” she smiled slyly, “which makes it all the more important that I piss you off and cut you out of my life until after your match.” Her smile turned weak as she gave a pathetic middle finger. The sadness started to show through. “It’s going to be a rough bitch of a time.”

He stood up with a sigh, and wrapped his arms around her for a hug. “Yeah. Both you and the Horseman statue are going into storage.”

She laughed, giving him a hug in return. “I love you, Ryo.”

He leaned in for a prolonged kiss, responding afterward. “I love you too, Junko.”

“Can I at least join you for roadwork for a few more days?” She gazed at him longingly.

“Sure, as long as we don’t end it on this sappy bullshit every time,” he scuffled her hair gently.

She nodded with a sly smile. “You got it. Have a good night, Ryo-sama.” They had one more kiss and a grope before parting ways.

The next day, Jun wished she had just told Kimura off from the start instead of giving him any shred of hope with her. He got it into his head that hovering nearby and trying to compliment her, boast about how he’s going to avenge her, or strike up conversation every ten minutes was charming rather than annoyingly distracting. It had been a long time since she required one, but she had to resort to the mouth guard again to keep herself from blowing up. The more she tried to take her anger out on her workout, the more attention she got from Kimura. Finally, he managed to push the giant rage button that she was desperately trying to keep a small target.

“You know, I don’t understand why you had to invite that inhuman bastard over just for a carving. I mean, you couldn’t have used photos for reference or something? It would have been a hell of a lot safer for you. You never know when he could snap again. I’d hate to think about how that demonic asshole would ever find a girlfriend. Disgusting! ...You really shouldn’t hang around him. You might give him ideas...” His hand rested on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

She stopped her weight lifting, instead dropping the barbells to the ground. “Schuddup.”

He laughed. “Sorry, what? It’s hard to understand you with that… mouth guard? Why do you have that in, anyway?”

She pulled the mouth guard out and bounced it off the floor. Whipping out of his grasp with a seething rage, she hissed out her demand.

“OUTSIDE. NOW.”

He leaned back with unsure concern, letting her storm past. He tentatively started following her, but wondered if it was best to just let her vent outside. She stopped at the door and turned around, bellowing out her unmistakable message as loud as possible. “NOOOOW!!!”

The whole gym was rattled, everyone looking at Kimura as he picked up the pace to go to the door. Takamura had been watching his pathetic farce the whole time, waiting for the drama bomb to drop. He nearly beat Kimura to the door. Aoki had been suspicious, but trusted Jun to behave since she was doing so well. _Dude, you just HAD to harp on about her trauma, didn’t you?_ He was next to follow out. Ippo started to come around at the same time as the rest of the gym, crowding the doorway. They watched as Kimura helplessly walked towards a viper’s nest.

“Whoa, Tagawa-kun, calm down! Did something happen? If that freak touched you, I swear I’ll kill—”

A flash registered a split second too late in his brain and he was knocked backwards with a stinging pain to his sinus. When he regained his focus, Jun was shaking with anger.

“YOU GODDAMNED ASSHOLE JUST COULDN’T TAKE A HINT, COULD YOU? LEAVE! ME! ALONE!! I DON’T WANT YOU TOUCHING ME, I DON’T WANT YOU TO AVENGE ME, I DON’T WANT TO GO OUT TO DINNER WITH YOU! I LOVE MASHIBA RYO, AND HE LOVES ME! YOU CAN TAKE YOUR BACKBITING, MISERABLE SELF AND GET EXECUTED, YOU STAGNANT PISSBABY!”

Everyone was taken aback by the confession, save for two people. Ippo, who had kept his knowledge about it a secret, looked around with guilty panic. The other was Kamogawa, who was as livid as she was, but for an altogether different reason.

“TAGAWA! REPORT TO MY OFFICE, NOW!! He parted the crowd through sheer influence, walking back into the building. Jun followed, unwavering in her fiery rage.

“Ooohoho, you’re going to get it now!” Takamura chewed the sass.

Ippo looked on with a mix of emotional hurt and worry. “Tagawa-san...”

Aoki stepped back from her caustic aura. “Damn!”

They all looked to Kimura, wiping the blood from his nose, still shaken from what just happened. Looking down at how much had smeared across his hand, her words started to sink in.

Outside of Kamogawa’s office, the crowd listened to the shouting that permeated the door.

“THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR STREET FIGHTING LIKE A THUG!”

“YOU THINK I WANT THIS? I’M SICK OF GETTING TREATED WITH DISRESPECT!”

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT DISRESPECT! WE HAVE HAD THE PATIENCE OF A SAINT WITH YOUR ANTICS!”

“MY ANTICS!? WHAT ABOUT YOUR PERVERT CHAMPION??”

“THIS IS A BOXING GYM, WE KEEP BOXERS WITH A POTENTIAL FOR BRINGING IN CHAMPIONSHIP BELTS! YOU ONLY BRING IN HEADACHES!”

“MAYBE IF YOU HAD ANY BRAINS LEFT IN YOUR WITHERED BODY, YOU WOULD KNOW HOW TO GET FEMALE CHAMPIONS, TOO!”

“THAT’S IT! I’M DONE DEALING WITH YOU! GET OUT OF MY GYM, NOW!!”

“I JUST PAID FOR NEXT MONTH! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BEFORE YOU ASSAULTED ONE OF MY BOXERS!”

Jun no longer wanted to have her energy taken fighting a battle she had long lost the enthusiasm for. Her arms dropped limp to her side and she breathed deep.

“You know what? I’m done dealing with you, too. I’m done waiting for a response from Yamako-san. I’m done keeping up with the guys only to get held back. Most of all, I am SICK AND TIRED of all of the gossip and bullshit drama! I have had to evade harassment from your star champion on a regular basis, and the only reason I’ve never punched him was because dodging him is the best I can do to keep my head attached! And don’t you DARE feed me that garbage that I ask to be treated this way! Nobody else treats me like that here! Not until today, and I am NOT letting this become normal!” She huffed a deep breath. “Keep the stupid money! I can build my own gym setup now, and get just as much coaching at my loft as I got from here!” She wanted to leave and slam the door behind her, but there was one piece of truth that she had to release. “… But not the inspiration for true grit, and the bond that everyone shares here. You do an excellent job training your boxers in the art form. I just wish I could have been a part of it instead of scrounging for crumbs. Goodbye, Kamogawa-san. Good luck with the upcoming matches.” She went to open the door when Coach spoke up.

“Tagawa. I’m afraid I’ll have to keep my word on banning you from the premises, but … you are allowed to come back one last day, as long as you behave. We will provide a refund of your money that you can pick up tomorrow. I will have a talk with Kimura later. As for your… outburst, it is clear that I can’t allow such a conflict of interest to interfere with a title match. I hope you understand the reasoning behind my decision. I suggest you go home, cool down, and rest. That is all.”

Jun held onto the door handle, absorbing his words with a light nod. She turned the handle, hearing feet behind the door scatter. She waited a second, then exited.

Gathering her bag and shifting her name plate on the peg board, she walked with heavy steps to her bike. Her anger was long spent, and she couldn’t even muster a frown at the giant dent in the side of Cherry, as well as the broken side mirror. _Wow. After all of my years of vandalism, it finally came back around. At least the tires, spark plug, and gas tank seem fine._ She unlocked her bike, put on the helmet, and drove off.

Ryo was too busy staring at the sidewalk – a habit he developed from avoiding eye contact with strangers – to notice a lone figure waiting at the end of the gym building. Like a struck match, his attention lit with the sound of her voice.

“Hey, Mashiba-san.” Her depressed body language and puffed eyelids gave him a sense of dread. When she flexed her reddened knuckles with a weak smirk, the feeling eased into curiosity and he approached her, listening to her confession.

Jun woke up to her alarm the next morning, not sure if she felt lighter or just empty. Taking care of her morning duties, she drove one last time to Kamogawa Gym. She decided that she would give it her all, despite the heavy cloud hanging around her. She was going to be proud at how far she’s come, and anyone giving her guff today would get a middle finger salute on her departure. Everyone had a sense of unease at her arrival, doing their best to focus on their work and avoided eye contact with her. Kamogawa stayed true to his word, offering a reimbursement check with a letter of permanent disbarment from the gym. She tucked it into her bag and went out to the floor to start her rounds. She had finished her warm-ups when Coach called for her.

“Tagawa! Over here!” He slapped the mitts together and waved her over. She smiled, taking in the advice he gave her on switching up her punches and where to aim for a more devastating hit. He gave her a nod when the lesson was done, giving her a few last pointers on where to focus improvement in her muscles. She respectfully thanked him and bowed.

With her workout done and only roadwork left to do, she had one last chat with the group save for Kimura, who was brooding nearby to eavesdrop.

“You all knew this was going to happen at some point, so don’t look so depressed.” She rotated her arm at the shoulder.

“I’m not depressed. Just disgusted that you share the same kind of shit taste as Aoki, but worse.” Takamura gave her a flat grimace.

“At least I can win a championship at something,” Jun shrugged.

“Yeah, at backstabbing...” Kimura muttered quietly to himself.

“So you can’t even stop by to say hello, Tagawa-san?” Ippo was not happy to see yet another person he cared about permanently leave.

“There’s nothing on that paper saying I can’t crash your roadwork,” she smiled.

Aoki crossed his arms. “You still have to come to our matches, Tagawa-kun! We’ll sneak you up to the balcony, as usual!”

“And we have to go out for ramen afterwards, too!” She added. With a glance in between them, Jun felt the need to address the sulking Kimura. “Hey Tatsuya...” He barely turned his head to notice. “I’m sorry I punched you like that, and I mean it.” She held up her knuckles, noticing how much the callouses had built up. “I finally realized that this whole time, I was so focused on becoming stronger that I didn’t even think about the abusive habits I could’ve picked up from my mother. I don’t want to be like her.” She opened up her fist, as if letting go of the past. “I don’t want to hurt the people that mean so much to me.” While he pondered on a response, she closed her fist back up. “But I don’t want to sit back and pretend that it’s okay for you to call Mashiba-san ‘inhuman’ while trying to be sweet to me in the same breath. I’ve been called a lot of vile names in my life, and you won’t get on my good side by stepping on others to make yourself the bigger man.” Takamura smiled at her burn as she continued. “But anyway, I want to admit that I was wrong for assaulting you, and that I accept the punishment for my actions.” She gave a small bow. When Kimura refrained from answering, Takamura cut in with proud clapping of his hands.

“Good for you, Himomame-kun! Very commendable! However, there’s something that’s always bugged me...” Takamura stepped in, front and center. There was a pause while everyone waited for him to continue. Instead of speaking, he tried to grab her, only for her to whip around under his grasp and dart away towards the heavy bag. He yelled after her, her ankle barely escaping his grasp as she climbed the bag and onto the railing it was mounted on. “HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT!?”

She walked along the beam like a tightrope. “Black bears! You get a sense for when they attack!” She jumped down in time to avoid detection from Kamogawa’s head poking from behind his office door. He slowly closed it back up after Jun gave a pleasant thumbs up. Returning to the group, She gave a brief slap to her butt cheek. “At least you have one memory of catching me off guard, Takamura...” He gave a wistful smile and a raised eyebrow remembering that night. Everyone else looked at him with confused dread.

Before she could start her goodbyes properly, the front door slid open to a sight that nobody was expecting; Mashiba Ryo.

The whole gym became tense with commotion, the group jumping to attention. Jun’s blood wasn’t sure if it wanted to rush to her head or leave it completely.

For a brief moment, he took in the sight of Jun’s gaudy name plate on the peg board. He slowly and deliberately walked towards the group. One of the gym members had the sense to fetch Kamogawa from his office. All four of the guys stepped in front of Jun to protect her, not seeing her slap her hand to her face.

“That’s a nasty wasp sting you’ve got there...” Ryo glared at the bandages over Kimura’s bruised sinus.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, setting foot in enemy territory!” Kimura’s eyes were lit ablaze.

“You have no business here, so move out!” Aoki put on his best tough guy act, despite the bead of sweat trickling down his temple.

“If you think you’re going to lay a hand on our Himomame-kun again, you’ve got a whole lot more coming your way,” Takamura cracked his knuckles.

Ryo glared at them each in turn, waiting for Makunouchi to say something next. All he could do was glare back at him with unsure wariness.

“I’m not here to start a fight. I’m here to vouch for Tagawa to stay here.” His concerned sentiment clashed with his icy glare, throwing the guys off. A cane tapped at the floor nearby, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Although I’m grateful you’re not here to start trouble, I’m afraid Tagawa-san’s ban must remain. Not only is she a distraction, but she deserves a better gym to accommodate her needs. Tagawa! Get up here!”

She slipped through the group to face Kamogawa.

“I had to do some hunting around, but I found Yamako-san’s new contact info and sent him your name and number. He’s still trying to get his own setup, so it may be a few months before he’s ready to take new memberships.” He pointed his cane at her. “Don’t let everything you’ve worked for go to waste!”

Delighted, she gave a sharp nod and a bow. “Thank you so much, Kamogawa-san!”

Ryo looked at her, unsure. “Is this what you want, Tagawa?”

She took a deep breath. “For the most part, yes. I will miss this place and everyone here, but I burned this bridge a long time ago, and it’s finally collapsed. It’s time for me to move on.”

He was still rankled that Jun was getting kicked out, but her happiness was good enough for him to let it slide. It looked like Ryo was ready to make his exit, but he stopped and turned to the group.

“There’s still something I want to ask, though. Who wrecked Tagawa’s bike?” His words cut through the positive atmosphere. Almost everyone had a confused look.

“Mashiba-san, I don’t have any proof that someone here did it...” Jun begrudgingly admitted.

He shot her a dirty look. “Don’t start with that bullshit. Anyone with eyeballs can tell that someone here did it.” He moved his line of sight and aimed it right between Kimura’s eyes. He yelled loud enough to be heard. “WHO TRASHED HER BIKE!?”

Jun stepped in defensively. “RYO! Nobody’s going to fess up to anything if you’re this pissed off! Just let it go!”

“What in the world are you two going on about!?” Kamogawa interrupted angrily.

Jun sighed heavily. “Yesterday, within the two hours I was here, my bike was vandalized. I assumed it was because someone was unhappy with me.” Everyone looked to Kimura, who was now sweating nervously.

“Seriously, man? You wrecked Cherry!?” Aoki called him out.

“I didn’t wreck it! I just—” Kimura paused, realizing how much trouble he could get into. “… kicked it, and it fell over. That’s all.”

Everyone was giving him a dirty look except Jun.

“I was wondering if that was the case. I guess we’re even, now.” She motioned to her own sinuses. “Don’t worry about the bike damage. I can pop the dent out and replace the mirror, no problem.”

Ryo glanced down at Jun, working his jaw back and forth decisively. “Are you seriously letting him off the hook?”

She smiled at him. “I can tell you I’m not about to have my premiums jacked when I can fix my bike by myself, so yeah!”

He let out a low grumble. “… Alright, then. Be safe, Tagawa.” He gave a nod, intending to leave her to her business. As he started to walk away, Takamura had to open his mouth.

“So, was Himomame-kun telling the truth, that you LOVE her?” He enunciated his words with childish sarcasm. Ryo stopped, glaring at him with mild confusion. “Clearly someone leaked info to you about ALL of the events from yesterday, right?” Takamura taunted him for a reaction. Ryo was in no mood to feed the troll.

“Wait, ARE you two dating!?” Aoki couldn’t help but ask.

“They can’t be! He beat her to a pulp!” Kimura was seething to the point that Aoki and Ippo had to hold him back. “Tagawa, this is wrong, and you know it! He’s an abusive asshole, and he’s not going to change! DON’T DO THIS TO YOURSELF!!”

Ryo’s throat closed at the resurgence of guilt. He saw the eyes in the room staring down at her as well as the ones glaring at him.

“You’re wrong,” Jun calmly replied.

Ryo caught the hurt in her voice. She had all the body language of feeling ashamed, save for the anger in her face and her fists. Ryo was itching to lay into his future opponent preemptively, but that itch didn’t even compare to the desire to comfort his sweet Junko. A special memory crossed the wires in his mind, giving him an idea.

“Relax. I’m just coaching Tagawa. In fact, she’s going to demonstrate how hard she can punch.” He held out his hand like a target, much to her surprise. He gave her a knowing smirk. “Right, Junko?”

She grinned with suspicion, but did as instructed and gave a resounding hit. It was much better than her first attempt, even going so far as forcing him to shake out the pain for a second.

“Not bad. Now, are you ready for mine?” He tossed her a mitt and waited for her to put it on before going into his hitman stance. The gym was tense, but she braced herself and held out the mitt.

“Ready!”

He swung his left a few reps, then abruptly stopped. Eyeing her up and down before giving a wink, he lashed both arms towards her, catching her knee and pulling her up by the waist to cradle her against him. Gasps rang out among the gym members.

“Gotcha. I will NEVER hit you again, I promise.” He smiled tenderly.

Jun wickedly smiled back. Ryo was intending to come clean with a confession at that moment, but Jun cut him off immediately when she pulled him in for a passionate kiss. He wasn’t yet prepared for it, nor for the raucous reception from the gym members. Takamura looked like he was watching a pimple getting popped. Aoki was shocked speechless. Kimura was downright nauseous. Ippo was grinning like an idiot. Kamogawa face planted and pinched the bridge of his nose.

When she finished, Ryo had to compose himself. “Uh… (ahem) I love you, too.” He gave her a generous hug as she tossed the mitt to the side.

Takamura cupped his hands around his mouth. “Weaken his legs, Himomame-kun!” Kimura wanted to dry heave.

When Jun flipped him off, Ryo followed suit with his own middle finger.

“Come on, Ryo-sama. I still need to grab my bag and do roadwork.”

On their way out, Jun pulled her ornate name plate from the peg board.

The smell of delicious beef curry caught Kumi off guard after coming home from work. She was further confused by her brother sitting at the table looking very stern, but unusually nervous looking. There wasn’t even time for her to take off her shoes when he announced that Jun had stopped over to make dinner.

“Oh, good evening Tagawa-san!” Kumi called out with a giggle.

Jun poked her head out from the kitchen. “Good evening, Kumi-san!”

Kumi went to her room briefly and came back. “I can’t believe you’re here making dinner for us, after your already generous gift!” She inspected the pot with the curry sauce. “Is it done yet?”

“It could stand to simmer for a few more minutes, but you can go ahead. I heard that your brother had a match coming up, so I wanted an excuse to hang out one last time before he has to concentrate.” Jun pinched back her malaise.

“Yes, it’s going to be difficult.” Kumi leaned in close to Jun to whisper. “I know how you feel. I was told I’m not allowed any contact with Makunouchi-san because of the match, too.”

Jun froze. “What? Who told you that?”

“My brother did, last week! I only agreed to let him visit you because Tomiko told me about this piece when you were her roommate, and that you were having trouble with it.” A cloying smile spread across her face as she peeked into the rice cooker.

“I’m sorry… If I had known I wasn’t allowed over, I wouldn’t have made dinner...” Jun was trying hard not to sweat, and took the apron off to accommodate.

“Here.” Kumi gingerly picked up Jun’s hand and placed the wad of ten thousand yen in her hand. “It’s okay. I was hoping you would stop by again so I could give this back.”

“Oh, Kumi! I said I would pay for his hours!” Jun was trying to avoid any more awkward feelings.

“The statue was more than enough!” She giggled. “To be honest, I was ready to tear into you that night, but you kept your word and then some! So, please take the money back, as my apology for being suspicious of you.” Kumi had an innocuous smile that hid her true feelings well. Jun nervously glanced toward the doorway, wondering if she could make her escape.

While they ate, Ryo and Jun were trying to figure out each other’s non verbal cues. They had planned to tell Kumi the news after dinner, but he was making motions indicating that she keep quiet. They were too busy silently arguing to notice that the phone rang and Kumi got up to answer it.

“Hello? Oh! Good evening, Makunouchi-san! ...Congratulations? What for?”

Ryo and Jun looked at each other in a panic. By the time either could think to intercept the call, Kumi screamed in incredulity.

Ippo had to hold the receiver away from his ear as calamity unleashed on the other end of the line. As much as he tried to find an opening to speak, he wondered if there was a point in doing so. Suddenly, Jun’s voice spoke clearly above the raucous yelling in the background.

“Ippo, are you still there?”  
“T-Tagawa-san?”

“Yeah. I need to leave soon. Kumi banned me from seeing Ryo until after the match. I’ll talk to you later.”

Ippo couldn’t think of how to respond in time before the dial tone kicked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kimura's not a BAAAAAD GUUUUY... (duh,) but he tries too hard to be a "nice guy."
> 
> • Takamura’s not stupid, either, but decided that her reactions weren’t quite proof enough to push the matter. He wasn’t specifically asking for photos of the carving...  
>  • I don’t think canon Kimura would go that far into Nice Guy territory. Then again, the only canon example of his behavior around a female boxer that I know of was the news reporter lady, so who knows. Maybe he would have acted like this on the first day Jun came back to the gym presenting as female.  
>  • Jun would have been awesome at parkour.  
>  • If Ippo had the guts, he probably would have told Ryo, “Tagawa-san was like a brother to me, now like a sister. You should know what’s in store for you.”  
>  • I don’t know how vehicle insurance works in Japan. (shrugs)


	21. HOW THINGS CHANGED

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long one, and it could have been even longer. I should have just divied the chapters better...

It took some getting used to, but people became more accepting of Ryo and Jun as a couple. The epic title fight between Mashiba and Kimura ended with Kimura’s loss, but only barely so because Ryo failed to take Jun’s warnings to heart.

With the visitation ban now lifted, there was immense pressure on Ippo from Takamura to confess to Kumi once and for all. Aoki agreed, feeling that Jun had provided the perfect opening past the ultimate cock block. Even Kimura thought it was about time, and figured it would be a great way to serve Mashiba’s behavior back at him. Ippo was still not comfortable rocking the boat of his relationship, especially now that it could adversely affect Jun’s hard earned victory. His protestations were met with a phone receiver shoved in his face. The only way Ippo had any chance at defending his clearly noble and masculine intentions was to wager his confession on an arm wrestling match. Much to Ippo’s chagrin, Takamura’s ignoble and super-masculine arm won out against him and the flimsy arm wrestling table that better represented Ippo’s argument. Surprisingly, Ippo’s phone call went a little differently than expected.

“So what did she say?” Kimura raised an eyebrow.

“She said she’s free… and that she’ll arrange a double date, since Tagawa-san has been asking about one for a while.”

The group’s excitement deflated with the realization that the ultimate cock block would be in attendance for the date. Takamura was the only one furious with the news. “Oi! That’s not part of the deal!!”

Aoki and Kimura went back to their training.

“Maybe next time, Ippo,” Kimura shrugged.

“All of that work for nothing...” Aoki bitterly rubbed at his shoulder.

While Ippo was thankful for the convenient ducking of responsibility, Takamura didn’t want to give up. He snatched the phone out of Ippo’s hand.

“What’s Himomame-kun’s number!? She’s not going to get away with this!!”

Ippo smiled, going back to his own workout and leaving Takamura floundering in a rage fit.

Ippo’s relief had heel turned on the night of the date. Different scenarios played out in his head, all ending in tears for at least one person. He was already running late, and decided that it was better to get it over with rather than be seen as a coward. Inside the restaurant, he was directed to the reserved booth. Jun had trapped Ryo to the inner seat while Kumi was seated on the other side. While Ippo scooted into the booth, Ryo’s death glare nearly robbed him of his appetite. His attempts at killing the mood for the night were parried by Jun’s bubbly socializing and public displays of affection. It still amazed Ippo how Jun had no fear of the man.

After dinner, Wanpo had found them outside the restaurant, much to Kumi and Jun’s delight. With Kumi’s request to go to the park, Jun dragged Ryo along and Ippo followed.

Snow had accumulated during the evening, and the girls were having fun playing with the rambunctious canine. Ippo had resigned himself to remain trapped inside an invisible penalty box under Ryo’s guard. Ryo was secretly fuming that he was trapped in check, having to sacrifice his post-fight date to keep an eye on his enemy. They both did their best to avoid any incident, but the events of the night were not under their power. Jun noticed how the two of them looked absolutely miserable. She started whispering something to Kumi, and they both agreed to team up for a snowball fight against the guys.

“Come on, Ryo-sama! Stop standing around like a statue already!” She telegraphed her movements to give him a chance to dodge. He ducked, letting the snowball smack Ippo in the side of the face. Ryo barely had time to laugh when another from Kumi whizzed over his head and a second one from Jun splattered across his hair. Her mischievous face riled him up to go chasing after her, sliding in the snow trying to make a hairpin turn.

Kumi walked up to Ippo while he was brushing off the snow. “Are you okay?”

He smiled, rubbing the cold from his face. “I’m fine! This is nothing compared to sparring!”

They both watched and laughed as the two of them ran around, with Jun dodging interference from Wanpo.

“He really is a different person when she’s around.” Ippo noticed how much Ryo was smiling, even at a distance. “Are you… okay with them being together, Kumi-san?”

She sighed. “Yes, mostly. I’m glad that he’s happy, even if it does feel weird at times, you know? Remembering Junko as Jun...”

Ippo nodded, still seeing masculine traits in Jun’s playful behavior. “I know how you feel. It was so surreal, seeing them flirting with each other, and then...” Ippo started to flush at the memory.

Kumi gave a confused smile. “What are you talking about?”

Ippo lit up. “Didn’t he tell you about it!? What he did at Kamogawa Gym?” When she shook her head, he proceeded to tell the tale, even demonstrating how Jun tested her punch. “Then, when she braced her hand to gauge his punch, he stepped in, and—!” Not realizing how closely he was pantomiming the incident, he caught Kumi up into his arms and pulled her waist right up to his face, forgetting that there was no need to accommodate for height difference like Ryo did. He quickly lowered her back down, profusely apologizing. Kumi, however, kept her arms around him. Looking deep into his eyes, she held an expression of hidden desire.

“Makunouchi-san… what happened next?”

His memory faltered on the details in the face of beauty. “Uhhh… th-then… he… he k-kissed her,” his face blossomed a rosy hue, “… and he t-told her…” he had to swallow hard before getting the words out, “… I love you.”

Kumi had already forgotten that he was recounting a story. “I love you too, Ippo...”

His eyes widened with sheer disbelief as she pulled him closer. That night, they both felt the once-in-a-lifetime rush of their first kiss.

Jun was pelted a few times with snowballs as she scrambled across the park, laughing. Still getting chased, she put her back to one of the larger trees in the park. He was right behind her when he stopped, bracing himself on the tree. Both breathing heavily, he smiled at her.

“Decided to give up, huh?”

She giggled. “More like taking a break.” Her hand reached up to flick snow from his hair, caressing his cheek on the way down. He leaned into it, closing his eyes briefly. They opened halfway with a lustful intention. He closed the space between them, indulging in a quick make-out session. Wanpo circled the two peculiar humans, still wanting to play. He liked the shorter one a lot more, and padded at her leg. Instead, she gently pushed him aside with it. He would have balked if it weren’t for the scent of the tree distracting him. Ryo was considering a visit to her place when two simultaneous sounds cut through his thoughts; Jun’s startled gasp, and the sound of trickling water.

Ippo and Kumi were only a few seconds into their embrace when a distant shriek pulled them apart in a panic.

“WANPOHHHH!!”

Ippo instinctively wanted to turn around to see what was going on, but Kumi stopped him halfway. His confusion was met with her shaking her head and pointing down at him. He felt a complicated weave of horror and dread upon seeing his budding hard-on tugging at his pants. As Wanpo ran up next to him, his only hope was to kneel down and tent his overcoat around him while comforting his startled pet. There, he waited for his death sentence as both Jun and Ryo came jogging up soon after.

“What happened!? Are you alright??” Kumi tried to disguise her embarrassment as panicked concern.

“He peed on my leg!” Jun had a look of pained humiliation as she pointed at Wanpo.

Kumi tried to stifle her smile. Ryo was not amused.

“I-I’m sorry! I’ll discipline him when I get home!” Ippo was too paralyzed with fear to think of anything else to say.

Ryo’s concern about the insult to his girlfriend was intensified by his rival’s suspicious behavior next to his sister. However, his attempt at an interrogation was thwarted by Jun’s persistent banter.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t intentional! He just missed his mark on the tree. Believe me, I’ve been through so much worse.” She vainly scrubbed a wad of snow on her pant leg. “Ugh, it’s still gross, though. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to call my end of the date short –” Jun’s attention shifted from her own predicament to the one that was adding up in front of her. Ippo looked like he was staring down the edge of a cliff while Kumi was desperately giving her veiled signals to reconsider. Hearing Ryo grumble next to her, she did some quick thinking. “Then again, I could stop in the nearest clothing store with a bathroom to clean up and buy a new pair. Are you coming with me, Ryo-sama?” She smiled, elbowing him facetiously.

“I am NOT leaving these two alone together!” He glared down at Ippo, who was now trying to keep Wanpo from getting too protective of his owner.

“Ryo, I’m not going into store alone with pee leg! Come on!!” She tugged at his coat sleeve.

“Just go home, then! I’ll walk Kumi home instead.” He started towards his sister.

“Like hell I’m riding my bike like this!! If you don’t come with me, I’ll touch you with it...” The threat of her waving her leg at him was enough to get him moving in the right direction. Still, he jabbed a finger at the two of them as he walked away with Jun.

“DON’T MOVE. We’ll be back here in a few minutes.”

When the threat was cleared out, Kumi exhaled a sigh of relief and knelt down next to the catatonic boxer.

“That was a close one, wasn’t it, Ippo-kun?” She giggled, while he could only nod. Wanpo was interested in licking her forehead, making her laugh harder. They stood up and Ippo threw a stick to distract the curious pup, but Ippo had to warp his posture to hide the still obvious erection. He took a startled half step back when she approached him for a hug. “It’s all right, Ippo. I know it’s still there,” she whispered. He swallowed hard, not used to having the taboo subject calmly and openly acknowledged. His body gave a light shudder as she straddled him. He lost himself in the sea of hormones, drawn to her lips once again. This time, they had more than just a few seconds of intimacy, but still not enough. The ache in his loins was painful enough to snap him back to reality and the consequences if he were caught. He forced himself to pull back.

“I… I’m sorry, Kumi-san!!” He knelt back to the ground and quickly stuffed handfuls of snow down his pants, causing him to bunch up tight with a whimper. Kumi sympathetically cringed. After a few breaths, Ippo stood up and buttoned up his coat. “I need to get home!” His voice cracked. Kumi stepped in front of him.

“Wait! Please don’t go just yet...” The sadness in her eyes instantly made him feel guilty. “When can I see you again?”

Ippo was flustered by how ill prepared he was to be in a relationship. “Uh, Y-you can see me any time you like!” He cautiously looked past her shoulder.

Kumi mulled over the best way to handle a schedule in private. “Ippo… sometimes I have to work overtime hours, and sometimes I … don’t.” She looked at him coyly. “Could you meet me at the hospital next Friday, after five?”

He delightedly nodded. “Yes, of course! Friday at five! I’ll see you then!” He ran off with Wanpo following behind, completely forgetting that he was supposed to stay put. Noting the spring in his step, she did her own little ballet dance of joy around the park before Ryo and Jun returned.

The next day, Ippo had called up Jun to thank her for saving his skin, apologize once more about Wanpo, and to explain the situation between him and Kumi. As ecstatic as she was for him, there was a seed of doubt planted when he vehemently insisted that all of this be kept a secret. She knew all too well how difficult it is to keep one’s heart from singing to the world, but agreed to secrecy under acceptable conditions.

Nearly two months had passed, and things were going relatively smoothly. Ippo’s fight with Sanada was coming up, and Jun was keeping busy with her business and working out at the warehouse. However, with the blooming of the cherry blossoms came an upheaval in Jun’s life, all starting with a phone call.

“Tagawa Woodwork and Photography, what can I do for you?” Jun carefully wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, stain cup and paintbrush in hand.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I thought this was a residence… but you ARE Tagawa… Jun? Junko?”

“Jun is my nickname, but yes, Tagawa Junko, speaking.”

“My name is Yamako Hirakazi. Pleased to meet you! I’m the owner of Kokusai Gym, and we are looking to sign up female boxers. I heard that you were interested in becoming a professional boxer. Is this correct?”

Jun had to sit down. “Yes! Yes I am! Where are you located at?”

“We’re in the Setagaya ward of Tokyo.”

She had to review her mental map for a moment. “Setagaya? I think that’s about a half hour drive from here… Still, it’s worth a look. Can you give me the address?”

She wrote down the information with her paintbrush on newspaper while confirming her contact info. After setting an appointment for the following week to visit the gym, she hung up the phone and thumped her backside against the table leg, pulling her knees up to her chin. All she could do was sit in silence as the excitement pulled in the storm clouds of anxiety.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, throwing everything away for professional boxing!?” Ryo whipped the tennis ball against the wall. It became an unspoken rule that whoever had the ball was allowed to talk, and Jun caught it when it ricocheted hard.

“Ryo, I want this! I PROMISED I would do this!! I’ve been wanting this for over a year, now! If I don’t take this opportunity, I’ll regret it!” She whipped the ball back.

“What you’ll regret is flushing your business down the toilet, ruining your hands, possibly dying…!!” The ball cracked back against the wall and into her hand.

“But it’s not fair! You have the same hazards, but it’s perfectly fine for me to worry about you getting some kind of brain hemorrhage?! Goddammit, I want to try for a championship belt, too!!” She slammed the ball at a bad angle, but he caught it anyway.

“FORGET IT! THERE IS NO BELT FOR YOU IN JAPAN!!” He snarled at her.

“I NEVER SAID ANYTHING ABOUT JAPAN! I WANT TO GO FOR THE WORLD!!”

Bitterness seeped through him as he squeezed the ball in his hand. “The world? What makes you think...” Halfway through, he realized his words were hurtful and sent the ball flying. She didn’t bother to catch it this time, letting it bounce off into the warehouse.

“I can’t believe this! What are you trying to say, Ryo!? That winning the world title in women’s boxing is a joke? A pipe dream? That I shouldn’t even try??” She pulled another tennis ball out and nearly aimed it at his head. He dodged it, not sure how to respond to her questions. She couldn’t help but rage at him. “Are you telling me I’m supposed to stay here instead, in this dusty warehouse, wrenching my hands over uninspiring pieces that I’ll never see again, just so my bills can eat up whatever money I earn? I’m getting sick of this, Ryo!! If you think there’s no fame or riches in women’s boxing, well I can tell you this, there’s no fame or riches in carving fucking grapevine panels for restaurants! I had more fun when I was giving the pieces away! I just want… I don’t know...” She halfheartedly punched at the wall. “I don’t want to feel caged up here.”

He couldn’t even look at her. “… So you’re tired of me already?”

She was ready to pull her hair out. “No!! I love you dearly! … But it’s frustrating. You inspired me to fight, but it feels like I’ve settled into a rut, instead...” She worked up the nerve to tell a secret. “There’s… there’s something I’ve wanted to tell you about. Something that I’ve wanted so badly, but there’s no way it’ll happen unless I take this opportunity. I… I’ve wanted a photo. A special one. The two of us together, wearing championship belts, and not prop ones, either. I want the real deal. I want a genuine smile that I can only get after reaching the top.”

He looked upon her with exasperated adoration. “You want to give all this up and risk your life for a photo op?”

She clenched her fists. “A once in a lifetime opportunity, Ryo. It’s not about a flimsy photo, it’s the memory we get to share together. Even if I don’t make it, I want to at least try.” She gave him the sad puppy dog eyes.

He fidgeted for a bit, thinking. He slowly wandered over and held her in his arms. “Junko, I was okay with you keeping up your training, but I barely get to be with you as it is. Having you chase this dream across the world is going to be agony.”

“I know. It hurts no matter how I look at it.” She muffled her face into his shirt as she squeezed him tight.

There was a long pause. “You really hate working in this warehouse, then?”

Jun pulled back from the fresh tear stains. “I don’t… HATE it, but I used to carve because it helped ease my stress. Now it just creates more of it. Well, that and the bills. There’s too much space here that I can’t get to pay for itself. I made a mistake, but I just didn’t want to admit it.”

He started to pet her hair gently. “So, what are you going to do?”

Jun ran down her list of options, mainly focusing on photography as a driving force for her globe trekking. Money was still an issue, but Jun had some savings and a few contingency plans.

He gave her a gentle hug. “You really put a lot of thought into this.” After a kiss to the top of her head and a prolonged grumble, he conceded. “I’m not happy that you’re doing this, but… I can’t stand to see you miserable, and I don’t want to be the cause of it. If you have everything covered, then there’s not much I can say or do to stop you, anyway. Just… keep me updated, okay? I want to see how far you’ll go.”

It didn’t take long for Jun to get her WIBA professional boxing license and for the Kokusai Gym to bundle matches at overseas locations. Jun started teaching herself basic English and Spanish phrases for the trip. The separation at the airport was rough to say the least, and both Ippo and Kumi had to tread rice paper around the depressed, angry, but secretly hopeful Ryo. Overseas, Jun proved herself to be a true firebrand right out of the gates. Her first pro fight she won in the second round. Personal life and professional boxing life became a juggling act of flights, dieting, earning side cash through under-the-table carving commissions, and long distance phone calls. Every now and then, she would send care packages containing t-shirts, venue swag, unusual snacks, photographs, and tapes of her fights, as well as letters to both the Makunouchi family and the Mashiba siblings. Occasionally, Kumi would wake up to the sound of the TV softly playing in the living room. In the darkened room, Ryo would sit and watch the tape of Jun’s most recent fight. Despite watching her win over and over again, he would continue to rewind the tape and watch in a depressed haze.

It was a sticky August evening, making Ryo’s shower at the gym utterly pointless. He arrived home in his usual grumpy mood. The gym bag was tossed to the side and he turned the corner into the living room. He froze in front of the kitchen doorway, staring at the luggage and camera case sitting on the floor.

“Junko! She’s here!?” His unabashed hopefulness made Kumi giggle, then nod.

He made quick work of finding her. Jun had fallen asleep on Ryo’s futon, fully dressed. She had changed some since her last fight. Her hair was now cut very short, with the back end dyed black and blonde. Her face was patched with bandages, and she was sporting a large cast around her right arm and elbow. The sight of her injuries made his heart sink. “Junko, what happened to you?” He gently knelt down next to her, running his fingers through her short curls. The gentle touch woke her up. When she realized she wasn’t dreaming, her eyes lit up with adoration and she sat up to hug him.

Kumi watched from the doorway for a few minutes as Jun answered his questions. Remembering that she had to keep an eye on the cooking, Kumi decided to give them a sliver of privacy.

“Keep the door open, you two.” She slid it completely over before leaving.

“Is this all from your last fight?” Ryo was disgusted at how fresh the bruises looked.

“Yeah. The cast was barely dried when they rushed me out for the flight back home.”

He cradled her up against him. “Why didn’t they let you rest first?”

She giggled. “Apparently, my next contender was willing to fight in Japan, and when I found out, I demanded to come home immediately. I didn’t know they were going to take my words seriously!”

He gave her a hug. “That was a stupid thing to do, but I’m glad you’re here.” He stroked the soft curls at the back of her head. “I like what you’ve done with your hair, though.”

She groggily snuggled into his chest. “It’s part of the aesthetic. I’ve earned the ring name of Junko ‘The Hornet’ Tagawa.”

“’Honetto,’ huh? That’s much better than Himomame.” He kissed her forehead, proud of her ferocity. Ryo noticed the sounds of dishes clinking about in the kitchen. “Mmm, you’ve gotten stronger since I last saw you...” Despite how easily he could get caught, Ryo couldn’t resist the temptation any longer. His hands wandered and caressed her toned curves. He sensuously kissed her, easing her back down in a prone position. When he pressed in between her legs, she quietly reminded him of Kumi’s curt warning.

“Hey. The door’s open,” she smiled tiredly.

He looked at her with exasperated lust and let out a deep, grumbling sigh. “Can we at least cuddle, then?”

“You’d better hide that thing first,” she giggled, gracing her fingertips across the front of his pants. He stifled a groan.

“It’s not my fault you’re gorgeous.” He stole one last kiss before maneuvering behind her to readjust.

He spaced himself far enough to avoid full body contact, but close enough to drape his forearm across her middle, allowing for a loose spooning.

“Oh yeah, I feel so sexy with this plaster log on me,” she wiggled her right hand fingers.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

She closed her eyes. “Not as much as you’d think for a compound fracture. The doctor prescribed some serious pain killers, but I’ve been sticking with the over-the-counter stuff.”

“Do you need anything, though?”

“Mmm, no... I’m... good...” She trailed off into relaxed breathing.

Ryo decided to let her go back to sleep. Her gentle snoring was strangely soothing, and soon he, too, closed his eyes and drifted off himself.

Kumi had turned down the heat under the sauce pot to let it simmer. With her attention freed up, the permeating silence urged her to go check up on her brother. She hesitated before the door, not sure she wanted to risk seeing something nasty. The sound of snoring assuaged her of the fear, and the sight of the two of them together again warmed her heart.

 _You are such a softy around her, Onii-chan. I wish I could take a picture!_ She turned away, holding in a giggle. A mischievous voice whispered in her mind. _Or have someone else take a look…_ She took the phone with her into the kitchen.

Ippo nervously approached the Mashiba residence. He barely tapped his knuckles against the front door for a few knocks, as per Kumi’s phone instructions. She let him in, but immediately gave him the signal to be quiet. He swallowed hard, but nodded as he removed his shoes. He could almost hear the romantic saxophone play in his head as she quietly motioned a finger for him to follow her. Kumi didn’t give him any details over the phone, and his imagination was getting the best of him. Still, the lurking fear of Ryo kept his loins in check. The sound of light snoring gave him an indication when she pointed inside the room. The smile grew wide across Ippo’s face, seeing the two of them snuggled together sound asleep. He tried not to laugh when Ryo’s arm twitched from a dream.

Kumi and Ippo retreated to the hallway, whispering.

“I didn’t know Tagawa-san was back! That must have been some fight, though,” he cringed.

“I know! She said her ulna is fractured and her radius split down to her elbow. A single punch could have caused the bone to spear through her skin.” Kumi pensively chewed at her nail. “She’ll be on hiatus for two months, at least.”

Ippo got the shivers recalling his own broken bones and imagined it amplified with his three month hiatus.

Kumi gave a small sigh. “Still, she’s back now, and I’m glad my brother is happy again. It’s almost a shame that I’ll have to wake them for dinner soon, they look so cute! … Would you like to stay for dinner, too?” She gave him a sweet look.

“Ah, a-are you sure I’m welcome here? T-Tagawa-san did just fly halfway across the world from her last match. Do you think she has any energy for visitors?”

She looked back to the doorway. “It’s hard to tell. It’s possible, but… to be honest, I’m a little worried.”

“About what? Is her arm going to be okay?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “She’s fine, it’s just… I’m worried that if she stays here, I’ll start hearing… sounds.”

Ippo wasn’t sure what she meant. “What kind of—” It dawned on him mid-sentence. “OH. Y-you mean…!” He gave her a panicked look as he barely indicated a bumping motion with his hands. She nodded slowly.

“H-h-he wouldn’t, would he? Not while you’re here!?” His increasingly frantic responses only served to make Kumi look more ill. “I-I’m sorry, Kumi-san! I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable!” He hushed his voice back down to a whisper. “Doesn’t Tagawa-san still have the warehouse?”

Kumi shook her head. “No. She let the lease expire on it, most of her belongings are in storage, and the only other place she can go to is a hotel… and I don’t want to think about those consequences, either.”

Ippo rubbed the back of his head during the awkward silence. “I’m sorry I can’t let her stay at my place... for obvious reasons…”

Kumi stifled a laugh, but her thoughts wandered to a more tempting scenario. “I can’t stay at your place either, for obvious reasons.”

The implication rooted a knot inside Ippo’s chest and forced the blood to back up into his face. “Y-yeah...” The awkward silence returned, now with more blushing on both sides. “So… w-what do we do?”

She turned to him, her eyes following up his body and meeting his. “I… don’t know. The only other thing I can think of is if you...” She turned away, embarrassed.

“Kumi-san, if there’s any way I can help…!” He leaned over, trying to regain eye contact. It wasn’t until she turned back to face him that he realized just how close she was.

“Do you think… you could… stay the night, too? Help me keep an eye on them?”

He swallowed hard, partly from fear, but mostly from romantic tension. “That’s as bad as you staying at my house!” The words left his mouth before he could think to censor them.

She gave him a look of mild surprise as he swallowed again.

“I-I mean, i-it’s still dangerous! Mashiba-san would be keeping an eye on me, too!” Ippo mentally chastised himself for blathering like an idiot when her eyebrows raised further.

She slowly tilted her head, sliding her palms up to his shoulders. “What would you do… that would be dangerous, Makunouchi-san?”

He swallowed a third time. He was trying to gauge how badly he would get sprung if he kissed her. “I… I know it’s been a while, and I have a match coming up, so it’s very risky for me… to… get distracted...” The temptation became a gravitational pull.

A gravelly voice shattered the moment like glass, for the very reason Kumi was afraid of.

“HNNnnnn, Junko...”

A cold jolt ran up Kumi’s spine. Ippo thought his soul was going to escape out his feet. As Kumi stomped back into the kitchen, Ippo peeked into the bedroom against his better judgment.

The two of them were still asleep, but Ryo’s dream turned into a pleasant one, causing his hand to reach under Jun’s top. Ippo could only stare in horror. He gave a panicked yelp when Kumi started banging a wooden spoon against a pot.

“WAAAAKE UUUP! WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!”

They sat up, bleary eyed. Kumi arrived at the doorway after Ryo pulled his arm away, but Ippo didn’t think to run until after Ryo spotted him.

“ **MAKUNOUCHIIII...!!** ”

Ippo tripped over himself trying to run, scrambling down the hallway on all fours. Ryo blasted past his sister like a demonic whirlwind. He easily nabbed him by the collar and yanked him back.

A fury of a thousand suns burned in Ryo’s eyes. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO TAGAWA-SAN!?” Kumi yelled back, equally furious.

“I’M NOT DOING ANYTHING!! WHAT WERE YOU TWO DOING WHILE I WAS ASLEEP!?”

“WE WERE TALKING ABOUT WHAT TO DO ABOUT TAGAWA-SAN!”

Ryo had let go of Ippo at this point, focusing more on yelling his side of the argument. Ippo still felt trapped. Jun wandered over to Ippo’s side, unfazed by the vehement spat. Seeing that it was useless trying to ask Ippo what was going on, she leaned up against him to fall back asleep. Ippo, freaking out at this, tried to jostle her back awake.

“Tagawa-san!! Tagawa-san, wake up!” She grumbled at the increasing pain shooting through her arm from the movement.

Ryo instinctively checked behind him, now absolutely livid that he had his hands on Jun. A long arm flew out and grabbed him by the collar.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!!” He snarled.

“RYO, LEAVE HIM ALONE!!” Kumi snapped back.

“HUUUUUSSSH!!” Jun yelled out, catching their attention and leaving Ippo cringing from the volume. “I don’t know what’s going on, but clearly me staying here is going to be a problem! I’m taking a taxi to a random hotel. Ippo, you’re going home, and Kumi, you’re coming with me to make sure I get there safely. Are we clear?” She yanked Ryo’s grip free from Ippo’s collar.

Speechless, they followed her out to the living room where she started to pick up her luggage.

“Junko, why are you taking HER side!? I didn’t do anything!!” Ryo barely kept his volume in check. He firmly grasped her by the shoulders. “Junko, please! Don’t leave!” He was more hurt than angry, and no longer cared that he was revealing his true emotions.

Jun took a slow, deep breath and spoke to him with calm care. “Ryo-sama, I love you, and I don’t want to go either, but I’m tired, in pain, and I don’t have any patience left to argue. Please, just give me a couple of days to rest alone, so I can come back to you happy, refreshed, and smelling nice. Please?” She gave him a hug, snuggling deep into his chest.

It pained him to admit to himself that she was right, that she did need time alone to rest. The cold reality of the situation sunk in like a stain. All he could do was gingerly wrap his arms around her shoulders and slowly crumple himself around her in a bittersweet hug. He desperately tried to hold back the pain of having her torn away from him so quickly after her arrival. He didn’t want to let go.

Kumi and Ippo watched his heart wrenching behavior, and looked to each other with guilt.

A strange rasping sound came from under Ryo’s embrace. With bemused eyebrows, he lifted his head up to show that Jun had fallen asleep on his chest. He slowly looked at the two of them with exasperated disapproval. Ippo finally decided to speak up.

“I… I think it would be best… if Tagawa-san stayed here.” He rubbed the back of his neck when he could feel their disbelieving eyes staring back. He hurried to explain himself. “Uh, i-it’s not safe for her to travel anymore today, and Kumi-san is best suited to help her recover quickly...” He took a deep breath and forced himself to face Ryo. “… and ... I trust Mashiba-san to do the right thing.” Ippo didn’t realize how difficult it was to admit until the sentence was halfway out. He turned to Kumi with a nervous smile. “Please take care of her, Kumi-san.”

She shifted her gaze between the two of them, finally relenting. “Alright, she can stay. But she sleeps in my room.”

Ryo heaved a sigh of relief. Kumi approached Jun, pulling the camera case gently down from her shoulder. “Come on, Tagawa-san. I’ll help you get ready for bed.”

Jun snorted awake in a confused stupor. As Kumi clarified the situation while walking her down the hall, Ryo looked on with the faintest hint of a smile. It quickly faded into tired resentment when he remembered current company. He turned with a bitter look in his eye. “Get out of here.”

Ippo felt fortunate for the clear directions and bowed profusely before heading towards the door. When Ryo followed him to lock up afterward, he took a moment to pass on one last message to the nervous man.

“Makunouchi… Don’t ever lie to my sister like that again.” Ryo closed the door, glaring at him with somber malaise.

Jun slept through most of the next two days. Ryo kept his distance, only going in to see her after getting permission to do so. After a week, Jun was able to return to her own approximate semblance of normalcy. She managed to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. With some investigation, charm, and great luck, Jun tracked down the Mashiba siblings’ landlord and convinced him to allow her to stay in the vacant lower apartment for two months’ rent up front. She called up Kokusai Gym to update them on the situation and asked for a specific accommodation starting the next week. Lastly, she arranged for visits to her friends and family, starting with the Makunouchi residence for dinner on Sunday.

“HIROKO-SAAAN, I MISSED YOU!!” Jun greeted her through the opened front door with a leaping hug, being careful of the cast. Ippo got a flash of nostalgic warmth as they happily chatted and lamented the broken arm. There was a surge of a different kind of warmth when Kumi walked in after her, carrying a bag of omiyage and a bag with photos and tapes. They caught each other up on current events, mostly with Jun telling of her different adventures traveling from Mexico, California, and Nevada. After dinner, Jun showed Ippo the footage from her fight. “My wrist had been aching for a while, and it was really bad by the time of weigh-in, but I didn’t want to report the nuisance. She’s going to knock me down… here.” Jun paused the video. “That’s when I landed on my arm. I think you can hear the bones snap.” She played the video again to their horror. “I kind of knew what happened, but I didn’t know how bad it was.”

“You got up fast!” Ippo marveled at her recovery at the three count.

“That was the adrenaline talking.”

Ippo’s eyes went wide at the following powerful flurry of left punches to the opponent, knocking her down in a daze.

“Whoa, you did all of that with just your left!?” He watched as the referee’s count rose.

“I had to! It was my only chance to win...” Jun pointed to herself on the screen while the referee declared a knockout. “See? It was already swelling up… and riiiiight here, is when I blacked out.”

Ippo watched her mouth a message to her seconds, causing them to scramble to catch her.

Jun pulled out a couple more tapes from the bag. “If you want, you can watch my other matches and find out why they started calling me ‘Two-round Tagawa.’” She gave him a wink.

“Tuu-raundo..?” Ippo had to take a second to grasp at the English nickname. “But… your robe said ‘honetto’...”

She laughed. “I get called a lot of different things.”

As Ippo rewound the tape, Jun laid down on the living room floor with a self-satisfying sigh. “It feels like it’s been forever since I last slept here.”

The casual admission jolted Kumi to a startled look, having nearly forgotten her past. Ippo quickly cut in to cover for himself. “Things were a lot different back then!”

“I’ll say!” Jun sat back up quickly and moved over to the shelves holding the photo albums. “Looks like it’s still here!”

Out of curiosity, both Ippo and Kumi looked over her shoulder as she opened up her old album. The first page was decorated with happy photos of Ippo, Hiroko, and Umezawa.

“I forgot you took these, Tagawa-san!” Ippo smiled, turning the page. One of the next photos sent the three of them on edge.

“Ohhh, right, my topless photo,” Jun cringed. Hiroko’s ears perked up from the kitchen. “Umezawa requested a ‘before’ photo soon after I found out I weighed eighty-seven pounds.”

“Eighty-seven—!! I… I can’t believe it! I know you said you were skinny, but I didn’t know you were so emaciated!” Kumi was in shock. “That’s probably why your arm broke.”

Jun nodded past Ippo’s confusion. “Yeah, the doctors said that Red-S Syndrome could have been a factor. I have to take supplements from now on.”

They worked their way through the album, smiling and laughing at the more candidly silly photos. Near the end of the album, there were photos of Jun’s carvings.

“Wow! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these!” Jun shook her head.

“Boxing has taken over, hasn’t it?” Ippo felt a little guilty, wondering if her talent had eroded because of his influence.

“Mostly, that and photography. I still carve small stuff when I have the time and materials. It’s good for a quick cash grab from tourists...” The photo of the Kindled Woman sparked an old mental note.

“Hey Kumi-san… follow me. I want to show you something.” Jun clapped the album shut and put it back on the shelf, pulling herself up and over to the hallway. Kumi and Ippo exchanged a baffled look, but followed her anyway.

 _Maybe she has an old carving still hiding somewhere in the laundry room?_ Ippo thought back to her medallions. When Jun stopped in front of his door, he got a nameless, uneasy feeling sprout in his gut.

“Have you ever seen Ippo’s room before?” She asked Kumi with a sly grin. Kumi started to smile as well, gently shaking her head. Before he could say anything, she whipped open the door.

Even though the room was as spotless as it’s always been, Ippo was mortified.

“T-Tagawa-san!! Why… why are we doing this!?” Ippo quickly looked around for anything embarrassing. Closing the door behind her, Jun quickly weaved past them and went straight for the lower desk drawer. Ippo’s brain finally linked the clues together.

“Wait! Don’t look—!!”

Jun didn’t have far to dig, and yanked out the flattened copy of EROTIQUE. “It’s still here!”

Ippo’s color was rising like a thermometer. Out of panic, he made a mad dash to snag it from her hands. Even with a broken arm, Jun managed to dodge his jabs and sidestep him in a fluid motion, settling at Kumi’s side.

“This is where I got the inspiration for the Kindled Woman statue.” She flipped to the page that was more beaten up than the others.

“Oh, wow! You did a really good job copying it!” Kumi’s sense of awe allowed Ippo to freeze like a deer in headlights.

“You want to know a fun fact?” Jun smiled mischievously. Ippo couldn’t help but sweat over how much her mannerisms mirrored Takamura’s in this moment.

Jun flipped to another page. “This is the foundation for my entrance to every match.”

Kumi gasped. “Ah! I see it now! Wow...”

Ippo’s curiosity got the best of him, forcing him to zip over to Jun’s side to look. It was the claw-handed woman, and Ippo could see the resemblance, too.

“Uwaaaah! Seriously!?”

She rolled the magazine up and bopped him on the head with it. “Of course!” Tucking the magazine in her sling, she proceeded to walk down the length of his room, emanating an aura of sensuous danger even with only her good arm out. Ippo felt the blood returning to his face. Reaching the end of the room, she went back to her normal self and chucked the magazine back in the drawer before kicking it closed with her foot.

Ippo trotted back over nervously. “Uhhh, T-Tagawa-san, aren’t you forgetting that this is yours? You left it here on accident!” Ippo pulled the magazine back out of the drawer and brusquely handed it back to her, his whole body language silently screaming at her. She narrowed her eyes at him and took the hint.

“Fine, I’ll keep it!” She walked back over to Kumi, who was mildly amused at the whole interaction. “Not that I need it anymore.” She idly flipped the magazine back open, which accidentally propped up two pages that were suspiciously stuck together. Both Jun and Ippo looked like they died on the inside, Ippo much more so. Before Kumi could ask, Jun snapped it shut. “Right! I probably dripped polyurethane coating on the pages … a long time ago,” She smiled at him with a piercing glare. Ippo both sweated and nodded profusely, ushering them out the door.

Jun had rested a little while longer before starting in on training. With some persuasion from Yamako-san and Ryo himself, her previous ban was lifted and she was introduced as the new temporary female pro boxer at Toho Gym. The adjustment phase went a lot smoother than expected, with Jun inspiring others with her focused and intense work ethic combined with her adaptability around the arm cast’s limitations. A week had passed, and despite the new luxury of having Ryo around every day, he had reined in his interactions with her to a bare minimum.

Jun was setting out to relax for the Saturday evening when her doorbell rang. Upon opening, her eyes followed the length of the long guy leaning against her doorway who smelled of sandalwood and had a single rose clenched in his teeth. Unfortunately for Ryo, he was not used to attempting romantic gestures, and came off as looking like a creepy serial killer.

Jun stared back blandly before shutting the door in his face. His grumble of disappointment aired before Jun started laughing behind the door. Ryo turned to audibly spit the rose from his mouth in order to speak in a whisper.

“Come on, let me in before she gets suspicious.” Jun let him in, taking the rose into the kitchen to find a makeshift vase. He made quick work of closing in for foreplay. Pulling a small travel pack of condoms from his pocket, he followed her swaying hips to the bedroom. “Try not to make too much noise, Junko.”

It was all too tempting for Jun to fall asleep next to him, but she knew his time was limited.

“Have you thought about switching over to my gym permanently once the cast comes off?” He helped her get dressed, still kissing and groping her along the way.

She pulled her shorts up over her underwear. “I can’t. I still have matches lined up through Kokusai.”

He halted briefly before pulling his shirt down over his head. “Wait. ‘Matches?’ I thought you were done after this next one. Isn’t that why you moved in…?”

“It’s not a title match; far from it. Yamako-san was just lucky that my opponent agreed to come to Tokyo. I still have many more left to go, wherever they may take me.”

Ryo thumped his head against the wall. “So how long are you staying here? Did they tell you anything?”

Jun sighed. “I demanded at least three days to heal after Korakuen Hall. After that, they’re flying me out to the United States again.”

“…How long until I’m cut off?”

She followed him out of the room. “Three more weeks.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Why must you make it so tempting to bang you every day?”

She giggled, pushing him towards the door. “Good night, Ryo-sama. I’ll see you in the morning!”

“Oh?” He raised an eyebrow at her. She lightly bopped him on the arm, trying not to laugh. “Just get out of here!”

Halfway out the door, he snatched one last passionate kiss from her lips. “I love you, Junko.”

“I love you, too!” Her expression maintained a blissful afterglow, with a flash of concern right before the door closed.

It didn’t register in Ryo’s mind until he turned around to see Kumi glaring at him. Her eye twitched, giving him a brief warning to make a break for the stairs before she booted him in the ass.

The weeks went by, the two of them now more focused on their own training since Kumi was practically glued to Jun’s side in every other respect except work. Ryo was about to throw a fit by the third week when an unexpected blessing came down from the heavens. Kumi decided to accept an invitation for a weekend retreat to Izu beach, and Ryo was not about to question it. In fact, he didn’t even bother to notice a familiar face from Kamogawa Gym picking up Kumi…

Jun wasn’t sure what mentally woke her up first; the itchiness under her cast, the midday sun shining through the bedroom drapes, or the dryness in her throat, but the thing that made her eyes snap open was the cheery voices of Aoki, Tomiko, and Kumi hinting in from the street. The goodbyes and the revving of a car engine made her sit up in bed.

“Shit! She’s back!”

Ryo sat up next to her, groggy and naked. “...What.”

They both looked at each other in delayed horror, scrambling to get clothes on. Jun managed to pull on a tank top and workout shorts before frantically grabbing Ryo by his pants and pulling him back in from climbing out the window. Kumi was almost at her own apartment door when Jun bolted out with a chipper greeting.

“Kumi-san! Welcome back! Did you have a nice trip?” Jun didn’t bother waiting for an answer when she ran up the stairs with a pained smile. “You want to join me for a walk, and you can tell me all about it?”

Kumi gave her a long once over with half lidded eyes. Her attitude quickly changed to cordial politeness. “Actually, that sounds like a great idea! Let’s have a chat...”

The two of them started down the street in conversation as Ryo peeked around the corner and tiptoed back up to his apartment. Jun was doing her best to be attentive, thinking that Kumi was going to rattle on about swimming and playing volleyball. When the Kamogawa boys entered the picture, she raised an eyebrow. The other one joined in reaching for her hairline when Kumi timidly mentioned that she and Ippo got a room together.

“Please don’t tell my brother about this!” Kumi begged.

Jun waved her hand back and forth. “No problem! In fact, I don’t think you should be telling me anything about what happened, either!” Her cheery resolve didn’t take long to break down in the presence of Kumi’s uncomfortable silence. Looking behind her first, Jun leaned in close. “I mean, I’m assuming something good happened…?”

“… No? Yes? I don’t know...” Kumi tightened her grip around her elbows and looked to the side ashamedly.

Jun was seriously concerned about her situation. After some consolations and a threat to toss Ippo in the ocean, Kumi finally confessed about what she meant. “I had been drinking, so all I really remember was… we decided to… you know, and...” Kumi knotted and weaved her fingers together before placing her hands over her face. “I can’t!”

Jun became increasingly worried. “Kumi-san, what did he do to you?”

She struggled past the embarrassment, but only barely. “It’s not like that, it’s just… he… I can’t because he’s… he’s too big! I just… can’t!”

Jun could only stand there and blink with her mouth agape, eventually rolling her eyes and sucking in a hiss through her teeth. She led Kumi to keep on walking when she seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Next thing I know, it’s morning, and he won’t even look at me.”

“Hey. I want you to know you didn’t do anything wrong, okay?” Jun pointed a finger at her from her cast while her free arm was around Kumi’s shoulder. “I’ll have a talk with him later.”

“Please, don’t! This is embarrassing enough as it is!” Kumi wiped the saline trails from her cheeks.

“Well, do you think he took advantage of you while you were knocked out?”

“No...”

“So, you didn’t wake up in pain or anything?”

“Just a hangover,” Kumi sniffed, getting an understanding of what Jun was concerned about.

“And you’re still on birth control?” Kumi nodded, for which Jun was relieved. “Alright. Now that the serious stuff is out of the way… Did you use lube?” Jun started laughing, causing Kumi to turn bright red.

“Why am I telling you this!? It’s none of your business!” Kumi decided to turn around and head back to the apartment.

“Hey, hey! I’m sorry, really! It’s just… that’s one of the reasons why I didn’t want to get involved with him in the first place!!” Jun cracked up, turning a bright crimson herself.

“WHAT!?” Kumi wasn’t sure whether to be relieved she wasn’t alone or pissed off that Jun knew what he looked like at full mast. “You mean you’ve—!!”

Jun caught her breath. “I’ve only SEEN it once at the gym showers, and once when he was late waking up and had morning wood! I know my limits, and he goes above and beyond!” Jun started wheezing with laughter.

“It’s not funny! I don’t know what to do, now. I’m worried we’re going to grow apart...”

Jun sobered up from Kumi’s genuine concern. “If something like that ruins your relationship, then it’s not love that’s keeping you two together. You don’t HAVE to have sex like that. I mean, you two could just...” she whispered into Kumi’s ear the rest of the message. Her eyes went wide. “Or, you could also...” Jun’s hand motions got involved with the whispering. When Kumi leaned back to look at her incredulously, she once again waved her good hand back and forth. “Just suggestions! However, I do recommend that you talk to him about how you feel at the very least! If you two are okay doing nothing, then do nothing!”

Kumi shook her head. “You’re almost as bad as Tomiko-chan. ...Almost.”

The apartment coming back into view reminded Jun of something else she wanted to address. “Hey Kumi, there was something I was wanting to ask you… Would you be willing to be my second in my next fight?”

The request stopped her in her tracks. “Excuse me?”

“Hear me out! You’ve dressed my wounds before, and you’ve done a better job than a lot of the seconds I’ve had to deal with state side. However, the main reason I ask is because… when I finally get to the world championship title match, I plan on paying for your brother’s plane ticket, but if you decide to be my second for that fight as well, you get a free ticket and hotel room for being a part of my team,” Jun held out her hand, “so what do you say? Does it sound like something worth trying? It’s okay to say ‘no’ if you don’t feel right about it.”

Kumi had never even thought about traveling across the world before. Everything about the proposition was scary to her, but at the same time it was an enticingly rare opportunity. “Um… I’ll have to think about it. I don’t know how well I’ll do under pressure, but if you think I can help you win...”

Jun clapped her hand on her shoulder. “Give yourself some credit! You handle the stress of being a nurse every week! I think you can handle a minute per round!”

Kumi smiled and gave her an assenting nod before starting up the stairs to the apartment. She stopped at the second step when she noticed Jun returning to her own apartment. “Tagawa-san? I forgot to tell you...”

Jun wandered back over to the stairwell. “Yeah?”

Kumi gave her the same half-lidded expression from earlier. “Please put your clothes on right side out next time.”

Jun froze as Kumi ascended the staircase. She finally noticed the raw seams showing along the edges of her tank top. “Uh, you know how hard it is getting dressed… with a broken arm...” She decided to not push her luck and scurried back inside.

The next few weeks, Jun was going stir crazy with itching. She tried her best to take her mind off of it while exercising the rest of her body, but her arm only got worse with prickly sweat. As soon as the cast was off, she isolated herself at Kokusai Gym and re-acclimated her right arm to punching again.

Her fight at Korakuen Hall understandably went a little longer than her usual two round length. Fighting in her typical fashion wasn’t working, so she slipped in and out of a southpaw stance during the fourth round, thoroughly ruining her opponent’s timing and creating openings for fast, concise punches to cinch the win. Ryo was proud of Jun’s success and of Kumi’s calm, professional assistance in the corner. However, the sense of pride turned bittersweet when Jun’s flight date and time was announced in the waiting area. When it came time to say goodbye at the terminal, Jun broke down, sobbing loudly and wishing she could stay. As much as he wanted to oblige her at that moment, instead, he hugged her tightly, gave encouraging words, and reinforced his faith in her. He remained stoic all the way until bedtime, when the sounds of her pained cries echoing in his head forced him to bury his face in the pillow. It was something he hadn’t done since his parents died.

It had been a year and four months since she had moved out of the warehouse and started pro boxing. The long distance relationship had taken its toll, with every phone call to Ryo ending with him asking her to come home. Once the date was set for her title fight, she made plans in advance to fly him out to the states, but not without his championship belt in tow. On the night before the match, they had one last talk on her hotel room balcony overlooking the sparkling city of Las Vegas.

“It’s so calm, and yet not. Beautiful, though.” The warm desert breeze flicked short strands of Jun’s hair over her forehead.

“I’m glad the fight is at night. The daytime heat is awful,” Ryo complained.

“The heat has been the least of my worries.” Jun gave a laugh.

He heaved a sigh. “I have to admit, I didn’t think you would make it to the world stage, and so fast. I’ve had two defense matches to your fourteen matches climbing the ranks.”

“Jealous?”

“YES.” He plopped a palm atop her skull and wobbled her head around, making her giggle.

“Well, don’t be. Hardly anyone noticed my climb. I’ve had to go out and sell the tickets myself for my fights, I’ve slept in homeless shelters after winning matches, and I’ve had to work myself to the breaking point in four different countries to get here. To them, this is just a novelty fight to bring in extra tourists,” she motioned to the whole of the city. “If I had lost, even once, my ass would have been booted back to Japan the next day, starting over from the bottom.” She looked up to him with a soulful gaze. “And there’s next to nothing for me in Japan’s world of boxing. Just you, and my friends.” She leaned on his arm. “There’s more weight to your belt than mine, and nothing will ever change that.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I dare you to say that when they put it on you.”

She smiled, watching the lights dance along the strip. “Regardless of what happens, I’ll still cherish this memory, and I won’t regret my journey to get here.”

“It’s a lot easier to say that when you haven’t experienced any losses...” He leaned over to look her in the eye. “Are you going to retire after this, win or lose?”

“Eeeehhhh…” Her lack of an answer made him give an incredulous growl.

“Are you kidding me!? I don’t understand it! You’ve been jumping through these hoops for over a year now. You just said you won’t regret anything, doesn’t that include retirement? Come on, Tagawa!” He ran his fingers through his hair, slumping onto the railing. “Don’t get me wrong; I want you to win, but I don’t know how much more of this I can take...”

She fiddled with her fingernails. “You really miss me, huh?”

“YES!! OF COURSE I MISS YOU! EVERY DAMN DAY!!” His yelling made her flinch, and he took a breath to calm himself down. “I’m sorry, but that’s been a pain I’ve been nursing in the dark for a long time.”

“Same here,” Jun whispered.

They stared down into the city in silence, working to dislodge the lump of sadness in their throats.

The sound of the glass patio door sliding open briefly pulled them out of their mental wanderings.

“Is everything alright? I heard shouting,” Kumi asked with understandable concern.

Jun waved her hand dismissively. “We’re fine, it’s just pre-fight jitters. Just give us a few more minutes, okay?”

“Don’t take too long. It’s already late, and you need a good night’s rest...” Kumi closed the door.

Jun rubbed a hand over her yawning face. “I need to meditate first.”

He grasped her resting forearm, making her pause.

“You didn’t give me an answer. Will you retire after this?”

She wistfully looked down at the city once more. It felt like it didn’t matter what answer she gave him, she had already lost. A thought materialized in her mind, one that she had yet to give serious consideration to before. She looked him in the eye with all due seriousness.

“If you want me to retire, you’ll have to meet me in the ring and put a stop to my career by your own hand.”

She walked toward the patio door, leaving him mortified.

“Junko… JUNKO! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? I MEANT IT WHEN I SAID I WOULD NEVER HIT YOU AGAIN! HOW THE HELL COULD YOU ASK ME TO DO SUCH A THING!?” The memory of the bruises he gave her churned his stomach sour.

She tried to calm him down while leading him through the hotel room. When she gently pushed him out into the hallway, he grabbed at the door, preventing her from closing it. The smile and giggle she gave was unusual enough to make him suspicious.

“Ryo-sama, take it easy! Don’t think about it in boxing terms! ‘If you want me to retire… you will meet me… in the ring!’ I love you, and good night!”

The door had closed in his face, his mind too busy on her cryptic pauses. “… I love you, too.”

He watched his feet walking him to the elevator to take him up his own room. “ _Meet me in the ring”… that’s exactly what she said. How is that not a challenge to a fight?_ He shook his head, reviewing her words once more, very slowly. _Meet. Me. In. The…_ He was looking down at his fists when he noticed his fingers. Opening them up to stare into his palms, he stopped dead in his tracks. _Put a stop to your career… with my own HAND, not fists!_ After the shock subsided, his decision was set and he ran to the elevator to take it to the lobby instead.

Jun’s title match was an arduous one. There was a good reason why the champion, Maria “Tornado” Torrez, was considered the best female bantamweight in the world. Jun went down in the first round, but rose at the count of five and took things more carefully from that point on. As the rounds dwindled, she displayed how she got the nickname of “The Hornet.” Her legs kept with her, letting her duck and weave with deft speed, landing singular jarring hits from different angles. However, the hits were too far apart from the constant need to dodge. Damage began to build up over the rounds, and Kumi was doing her best to alleviate it in between. Near the end of the match, Maria managed to stack body blows, causing Jun to go down twice in the same round. With over a minute left, Jun struggled to wake as the referee started the count. In the darkness behind her eyelids, a tall figure riding a midnight black horse loomed behind her. The Horseman swung his sickle and stopped the blade short of Jun’s throat.

“GET UUUUUP.”

Jun’s eyes flew open and she forced air into her lungs. Her eyes were still recovering from the dark haze of an impending blackout. The Horseman pulled her up to her feet in the darkness and whispered into her ear.

“ELIMINATE HER.”

The dark haze cleared long enough for her to register that the referee was still counting, even though she was on her feet now. At the count of eight, she assumed her fighting pose and spoke in English that she could still fight. As the referee considered resuming, Jun envisioned her beloved Horseman breathing life into her torn wings. _I may be squashed, but the stinger is still alive._ At the referee’s signal, she released a hidden store of energy and went into her Stinger Frenzy, a rapid succession of hits from different angles, switching in and out of southpaw stance, and a special hit that allowed her to slip past a punch with a cross counter. Finishing with a strong uppercut that busted her knuckles on Maria’s jaw, she went down. Jun wasn’t without casualty, as her opponent slipped in a few more body blows during the exchange, one that landed squarely to her diaphragm as a counter to her uppercut. The black haze returned, threatening to cause a standing TKO. As the referee yelled at her to return to her neutral corner, Jun had to lock her knees while searching for support. In total darkness, she braced herself on the ropes. _Is this it? Am I knocked out?_ Struggling forward on stilted legs, her glove bumped against a soft obstacle, causing her to instinctively clinch it. It failed to struggle, so she remained. _I don’t know if this is real or a dream._ The Horseman spoke once more over the din of her ringing ears.

“BREATHE!”

 _I can’t! It hurts too much!_ Jun’s own whining made herself angry. _FINE! I’ll breathe!_ She took in deep gulps of air despite the pain that now threatened to shut down her entire body. She released her clinch and turned around, resting her back on the obstacle.

“OPEN YOUR EYES.”

In the dark, there was a pattern of pinpricks of light. Jun blinked at the growing light and sound. She forced more air into her lungs, finally waking up to her current situation. She had managed to feel her way to the neutral corner and propped herself up. She barely had time to recognize that the count she was hearing was for Maria, still struggling to get to her feet and her gloves up. At the shout of “Ten,” the referee’s arms signaled a knockout, leaving Jun in stunned silence as a deafening cheer rang out from the crowd. Her eyes were filled with the starlight sparkle of the lights, the realization that she barely caught the win of a lifetime. _I won? I actually did it!?_ She let out her own uproarious cry of victory, forcing herself into her trademark claw hand pose. Shaking with sheer joy and exhaustion, her seconds helped her approach the center of the ring. Maria congratulated her, and Jun was announced the winner. When the belt was handed to her, she wanted to collapse. They fastened it to her waist and she was approached by the announcer. Startling cries from the audience interrupted the announcer’s speech, causing all attention to shift to the hooded figure entering the arena. Jun locked her knees again, but regained her composure quickly enough to pull the microphone close. “Do not worry! I know that man! Let him in! I want photos!!” She spoke in nervous English, waving off the guards who sought to stop him. Stepping into the ring, Ryo dramatically pulled off his robe, revealing that he was dressed in full boxing regalia and his championship belt that sparkled in the light along with hers. He glared down at her, his face flushed and sweating. The crowd started cheering for the two of them. “I did it, Ryo-chan! We’re both champions now!” She spoke in elated Japanese into the microphone, switching to English to address the audience as best as she could. “This is Ryo Mashiba, Japan Junior Lightweight Champion! I wanted him to see me fight!” Her expression changed to sheer giddiness when she saw him take a relaxed hitman stance, swinging his left arm. She forced her muscles to pose for the cameras, encouraging the photographers to crowd the ringside.

As the bulbs flashed, Ryo stopped his arm from swinging by pinching his glove under his elbow. Pulling his hand out of his glove, a small white box was in his grasp.

Jun’s mind went blank. The crowd went wild when he went to one knee and opened the box in front of her, a small engagement ring nestled inside.

“[Kekkon shite kudasai],” his voice trembled, barely audible over the crowd’s exaltation.

Jun cupped her hands to her face and fell to her knees, crying. Kumi was just as shocked as Jun, and everyone else around her was ecstatic. Even Maria held her head in amazement.

Jun nodded yes.

The engagement ring couldn’t even pass her first knuckle due to swelling, but she held onto it, kissing him as he lifted her up and carried her out past the ropes.

On the plane back to Japan, Jun snuggled up against her fiance, who was gently snoring away the side effects of the Dramamine. The last day stateside had been busy, taking photo ops, Ryo refusing her facetious pleads to get an impromptu Vegas wedding, and the can of worms that Jun had to help clean up concerning how badly the jewelry shop was going to screw over Ryo for payments. She had the ring returned for a full refund, but was strangely happier with her cheaper replacement. As the ring bounced tiny rainbows onto the seat in front of her, she giggled, thinking upon all of her new favorite memories, now captured in photos. There was one photo that Jun never thought she would want more badly than the two of them wearing championship belts in front of Caesar’s Palace, but the photo of Ryo wearing aviator sunglasses while surrounded by Elvis impersonators had become her all time favorite silly memory of her trip.

Since he wasn’t big on celebrations, Ryo left most of the wedding planning to Jun and Kumi. Instead, he handled the search for a new home. There was one thing that Ryo was adamant about their planning, and it was that the wedding would be in early October. Jun thought it was a romantic idea to have the wedding coincide with the anniversary of her arrival to Tokyo. The realization that so much had happened in three years made her head spin.

The big day had finally arrived. A crisp chill hinted in the air as the overcast clouds blotted most of the sun. As per Jun’s request, both Kumi and Ryo waited for her arrival at the cemetery where their parents were interred. It was a mix of feelings for the Mashiba siblings to stand waiting at the hollowed grounds, wondering what exactly she had planned. Out of reflex, Ryo started pacing and shadowboxing.

“Will you stop that? She called from the hotel before we left, and it’s going to take a while for her father and brother to drive her down here!” Kumi grabbed at her brother’s arm, being careful not to crush the rented tuxedo. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this, Onii-chan!” She handed him a tissue from her handbag, knowing full well that she was going to need them later. He wiped the sweat from his brow and neck.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. I never thought I would be introducing… Ugh. I can’t… I’ve gotta move, or do something...” He started to pace again, but Kumi brought him back to wait at the gate. “You had better not get cold feet, Onii-chan!”

He tried his best to calm down, resuming his spot by her side. The fidgeting continued.

“Kumi…?”

“Yes?”

“… Thank you for not being ashamed of your older brother.”

She gave him an understanding smile. “It’s okay, Onii-chan. I’m sure we’re all proud of you.” She motioned her head towards the graves.

He gave a sigh, wondering if he failed his vow to protect her. If he had gotten himself too distracted with his own personal matters. He thought about Kumi’s words and how wonderful his amazing Junko was to him, and came to terms with the fact that he was very lucky to have both of them in his life.

The sound of a car pulling up rocketed his nerves back up. Two men stepped out, one opening the back passenger door.

Ryo swallowed hard. “Kumi, don’t you dare tell this to anyone...”

She looked up at him, worried. His face was losing color beneath the beads of sweat, his body imperceptibly wobbling.

“… This is scarier than any match I’ve ever been in.”

Kumi bit her lip, her eyes getting misty. She held his hand as Jun stepped out from the back of the car.

She was wearing a gorgeous, sheath style ivory gown, minimal makeup, and dangling pearl earrings. A veiled tiara graced her sienna curls.

Ryo slouched forward. “Ugh, she’s so beautiful! I’m gonna throw up...”

“Seriously!? Breathe, you idiot, breathe!”

Jun’s father was a short man with a small build. Wearing thick glasses and a balding pate, he shared a smile reminiscent of Jun’s as he bowed to his introduction. “Good afternoon! I’m Tagawa Ken. Pleasure to meet you!”

Following behind was a tall and massively built man, but with gentle features. He was an inch taller than Ryo and easily fifty pounds heavier. He spoke with a disarmingly falsetto voice. “Nice to meet you! I’m Tagawa Masaki. My sister has said a lot of good things about you!” He clapped a hand on Ryo’s shoulder after bowing. With the barest movement, Masaki’s features became not-so-gentle. “Please take good care of her.”

Ryo forced his eye to not twitch, and gave a gentle nod.

Approaching the gate, Jun bashfully looked up at Ryo. “Are you ready, Ryo-sama?”

“No...” His voice cracked, causing Kumi to lightly nudge him in the side with her elbow.

Jun gave a nervous giggle as she held his hand. “It’s okay. Me neither.”

They walked up the pathway to the gravestones, with Ryo introducing the Tagawa family to his parents. Masaki laid down a protective towel for Jun to pay her respects. She knelt down to bow, lit incense, spoke kind and heartfelt words, swore to love and protect her new family, and gave an offering of a necklace made of hand carved wooden medallions, one for each family member. It didn’t take much for Kumi to start crying, leaving Ryo to staunchly fight off his own emotions. After a final bow, they all gathered into the car and headed for the ceremony and reception.

It was a very rare occurrence for so many professional boxers to congregate in one place, but it was exceptionally unusual for them to arrive wearing suits and tuxedos at the Tokyo Dome Hotel instead of Korakuen Hall next door. Inside, the guests were directed to one of the smaller convention suites, graciously funded by Jun’s sponsors. There were many tables set up, decorated with mountain wildflowers and gift bags under the seats. The invitees included nurses and doctors from Kawai Hospital, all members from Kokusai Gym, Kamogawa Gym, Toho gym, and their guests, Sendou Takeshi, Makunouchi Hiroko, Umezawa Masahiko, Nekota Ginpachi (Hachi having stayed at the Makunouchi residence with Wanpo), the entire staff of Monthly Boxing Fan (restricted from doing work), some of Jun’s favorite commission clients, and Maria Torrez, who was a lot friendlier outside of the ring. There was an extensive spread of food, sparkling cider, a boxing themed wedding cake, and a giant ice sculpture of two cranes that Jun carved herself.

Ryo felt intensely awkward having so many people around for something he felt should be private, but he knew that it was his own fault for proposing on national TV. The master of ceremonies invited them to exchange vows, partake in the sake ritual of sansankudo which made Jun’s face cringe, and exchange rings, followed by the kiss. Everyone cheered, and offered their monetary gift of goshugi as they lined up to the buffet. There were many speeches, mostly for Jun, as well as a video slide show of their life growing up and their history together, with the worse parts tactfully edited.

The time had arrived that piqued the interest of the male gym members; seeing how Ryo was going to handle the first dance at the nijikai, or after party. What they didn’t know was that Jun had predicted this might be a potentially embarrassing and rage inducing part of the reception, so she had encouraged him to practice with her in the month leading up to the wedding. They had caught everyone’s attention when he went into a serious hitman stance against the backdrop of “I Love Playing With Fire” by The Runaways, but he swung to the beat and Jun dodged them, entering into a fight-themed choreography with tango moves mixed in. Cries of amazed titillation spread across the room when Ryo lifted Jun off the ground using only their clasped hands, Jun slowly lowering herself with amazing muscle control as Ryo’s face brushed up against her neck. He continued with seductive tango moves, ending with a twirl, a dip, and a deep kiss. The room erupted into raucous cheers, with others joining on the dance floor when a new song started to play.

Kumi started to scan the room for her desired dance partner. Ippo gave her a start, exclaiming in excited tones next to her.

“That was amazing, Kumi-san! I didn’t know your brother could dance like that!!”

“I didn’t know, either!” She blushed. “I wanted to ask him— hey, where did he go?”

They both looked around, but Kumi caught a brief glimpse of the two of them ducking out the doors in the direction of the bathrooms. A red flag went up in her gut, unwittingly pulling Ippo along to follow them. When they came near the corner, she shushed him, and they peeked around. What they saw made their hairs raise.

Ryo had pinned Jun to the wall, heavily making out.

“Come on, Junko, let’s just ditch the party. I want to take you to the hotel room already...” He started to kiss her down her neck.

“Ryo, don’t say that! It’s bad luck! (giggle) Seriously though, you can last another hour. We need to get through this like responsible adults!”

“It’s been months. I’m done waiting.” He pressed himself against her, continuing to lick and kiss her collar bone. She started making sounds that admitted to temptation.

“Aaahhn… Hah… as much as AAIEEE… I would like that… NO. Suck it up, Ryo-chan, you’re stronger than this.” She bapped him on both arms repeatedly, making him slowly slump in frustration.

“Grrrr. Fine. Just… give me a minute here...” He started shifting about, doing something that was obscured to Ippo and Kumi.

“What the…!? Damn, Ryo! You have to do that here??”

“I’m NOT going back out there (grunt) with this showing!”

“The bathrooms are right here! Go wash your hands!”

“You wash your face.”

“YOU wash your face!” She smacked him on the ass. They laughed, and parted ways to the restrooms at the end of the hall.

Kumi and Ippo were beet red, but she stood up and followed Jun into the bathroom in a subtly angry manner.

“Kumi, wait—!!” He went to stand up, but something poked him from behind.

“Damn, what a couple of perverts,” Takamura said accusingly, his own member hypocritically stiff in his pants. Ippo curled back down, freaked out.

“T-Takamura, what are you doing here!?!”

“What are YOU doing here? Trying to take notes!?” Takamura hoisted him up by the collar. Ippo wanted to shed tears of embarrassment, since he, too, also sported a boner.

“I-I-I’m waiting f-for the bathroom to clear out...”

Inside the women’s restroom, Jun wiped the smeared lipstick from her face and neck.

“I hope they don’t notice...” She spoke to herself, trying not to scrub. She froze in brief terror when Kumi entered through the door. Quietly fuming, Kumi handed her some lipstick.

“Uh, thanks...” She gingerly took it, but knew that she had to clear the air first. “You saw that, didn’t you.”

Kumi nodded. “It’s been… months, though?”

She sighed, uncapping the lipstick. “There’s a reason why I wore ivory instead of white… but, we’re already married. If you had any objections before, it’s too late now.”

“That’s… not the problem. Although, that was very rude of him to put you in an embarrassing situation like that.” Kumi resisted the urge to chew on her thumbnail while Jun looked away in shame.

“It’s just… it feels like there’s a huge double standard. It’s okay for him to get married, but I’m still not allowed to date alone?” She worried the cuticles on her fingertips instead. “As far as he knows, anyway. It’s so weird, knowing he’s leaving, and yet he’s not really leaving...”

Jun finished fixing her makeup, looking at Kumi’s reflection with pained guilt.

“Kumi, there was something that I wanted to tell you. As you know, we went looking for a house, and Ryo wanted a duplex in strong hopes that you would be okay with moving in next door. Personally… I want you to have your own choice. We haven’t signed any papers yet, so you’ll have to decide what you want while we’re on our trip, and I’ll stand by your decision...” Jun put a hand on Kumi’s shoulder, “even if you decide to live with Makunouchi-san!”

Kumi blushed at the thought. “I-I wouldn’t dare!”

Jun giggled. “Why not? You’ve taken risks before. You’ve traveled overseas, you’ve persevered through high-stress work… what’s holding you back? Is it money? Is it your brother or Ippo… or is it YOU holding you back?” She patted Kumi’s shoulder. “Here’s a little secret; I found out that Ryo wanted the wedding today NOT for the romantic reason of coinciding with my first arrival in Tokyo, but because he wanted to make sure Makunouchi-san would be incapacitated, recovering from his match tomorrow while we’re away on honeymoon.” Hearing this revelation, Kumi was ready to throw a fit when Jun continued with a wink. “Luckily, he was able to show up to the reception after weigh-in, and now that I know what’s going on, I can ‘accidentally’ change our camping reservations for a couple of extra days… Let me know tomorrow if that sounds like a plan.” Jun left Kumi to consider the offer.

With Mashiba Junko and Ryo away on their honeymoon at Bandai Asahi National Park, Ippo had not only beaten his opponent for the title defense, but he had also beaten the odds by making it one of his fastest and cleanest fights. Shortly after the dust and celebrations had settled, Ippo received a phone call that shook him to his core. Hiroko was curious as to his sudden change in demeanor, but the only answer she could get from him was that he was going to visit a friend for a sleepover, alluding to one similar to when he spent the night at Takamura’s during his fast. He packed his necessities into a backpack and headed out before he could let his nerves take root. By the time he arrived at his destination, he debated on turning back. Ippo waffled back and forth on the street, muttering to himself. He stopped when a light suddenly shone down on him from above. Standing with the front door wide open at the top of the staircase, Kumi smiled. As if looking upon a beautiful angel, his nostrils flared in hopeful determination.

It had been over a year since the beach house incident, and their relationship had floated along the river of semi-platonic complacency. Every now and then they would sneak a kiss, but for the most part, work, boxing, and an overprotective brother commanded their attention. However, the stars aligned and an oasis of an opportunity presented itself. Much to Jun’s suspicions, Kumi turned out to be hot blooded, too. This time, she was better prepared, but it was still a challenge to mount him. With a lot of sweat, panting, and copious amounts of lube, she finally managed to rock his cock.

That night, Ippo stared at the ceiling, still in glorious disbelief over what happened. Granted, things were as clumsy as you could get, but Kumi not only went at it again, but climaxed as well. She was snuggled against his chiseled body, sound asleep. He wanted to nod off as well, but anxiety continued to pick at his brain. She had reassured him that she was on birth control, but two broken condoms felt like a disastrous omen. Once again, he secretly cursed the size of his dick. His thoughts took a winding journey down the possibility of Kumi getting pregnant, her brother’s deadly wrath, the mocking from his gym mates, and all the different ways this wrench would tangle up the works. Just when he thought the anxiety was going to eat a hole right through him, Kumi inhaled deeply, readjusted, and sighed, falling back asleep with her arm wrapped around his waist. He looked upon her with deep affection, gently sweeping her bangs away from her eyes. Ippo welled up with tears, ashamed of letting such things get in the way of love. He decided then and there that he wanted to see her face every night until the day he died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am such a sap. :D
> 
> • Ippo knew Kumi wasn’t nearly as protective of her brother as Ryo was of her, but asked if she was “okay with them” because an irrational part of him still believed she would want Jun over him, and was curious if she still had feelings.  
>  • I staunchly believe that canon Ippo would 100% do something as stupid as getting too wrapped up in his thoughts to realize that his actions are following them. He punched a produce basket out of a guy’s hands, he busted the karaoke bar sign, he got pissed on by a tiger… So, of course he would absentmindedly hoist Kumi up to himself.  
>  • I get the feeling that Ippo’s adrenaline from potentially getting caught only made him harder. Ouch.  
>  • Long distance relationships SUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.  
>  • Something I couldn’t figure out how to include: Ryo opens up her letters and packages with a butterfly knife that she gave to him.  
>  • Kumi is actually okay with Jun and Ryo “spending time together,” as long as she doesn’t have to think about it. No sounds, no visuals, only rated-G public displays of affection in her presence. She wishes Ryo had the same mentality to allow her some privacy as well, but no, he’s stuck himself in a clutching hand trap.  
>  • “I trust you to do the right thing...” Yeah, Ippo still hasn’t quite forgiven him for putting bruises on her, but he’ll swallow that bitter pill of double standards, regardless. In a way, Ryo’s response at the door was both a stubborn refusal to say, “thank you,” and irritation that Ippo STILL didn’t have the guts to call him out on such blatant hypocrisy.  
>  • Jun could have easily staged some alone time for Kumi and Ippo in his room, but let’s just say what goes around, comes around. “KEEP THE DOOR OPEN, YOU TWO...”  
>  • “Try not to make too much noise, Junko.” She made noise. Kumi could hear it through the floor.  
>  • Huh. I never thought about if Tomiko had ever met Ryo face-to-face in canon.  
>  • Jun was 99% sure that Ippo wouldn’t take advantage of Kumi while she’s passed out, but that one “hug” she shared with him shaved off that one percent of trust.  
>  • Jun’s packed fight schedule is a slight nod to Harry “The Pittsburgh Windmill” Greb, whose total boxing record was 261-17-19 over the span of 13 years. At one point, he didn’t have to train because he was in a match every week.  
>  • According to my old notes, Jun’s record ended at 18-1-1, but that was supposed to be over the span of 2 years, so if Ryo is correct, her record at the end is either 15-0-0 or 14-0-1, depending on how I’d write that story.  
>  • Can you imagine some poor schmuck in a Las Vegas jewelry store, pressured by his boss to make sales no matter what, and then Ryo walks in, pointing to a random ring and plopping down an insufficient wad of US dollars with an intense glare? “Y-yeaaahhh, suuure, just sign right here!” (Ryo signs off on a payment plan of $1000/month for the next two years or whatever, figuring he’ll have someone translate it later…) The replacement ring was probably some $50-100 jobby at a department store.  
>  • There’s so much character interaction I wish I could have included for the wedding, but this story is double-novel length as it is.  
>  • Jun’s brother, Masaki, was mistaken for Takamura at a distance when Jun first saw him at the police station. His falsetto voice is a nod to Jack Dempsey, who supposedly was mocked during his Kid Blackie days for having an unusually high voice.  
>  • “Mom, I’m staying at… a friend’s house...” (next day) “Mom, I’m GETTING MARRIED...” Well, Ippo, you may have copied a lot from Jun, but at least you didn’t propose awkwardly in the ring. You know he would be trying to hide the wedding band in his boxing gloves on the first day, only for Takamura to notice and carry him by the wrist around the gym. Then there would be pressure on Aoki…


	22. EPILOGUE

It was a couple of weeks before Jun and Ryo’s twenty-third wedding anniversary. Walking down the driveway of their humble yet modern house, Ryo checked the mail. His face had a few more creases, more scars, and the hair by his temples was turning gray. Among the bills was a royalty check for one of Jun’s photo publications. Heading back inside, the smell of cooking food reasserted itself. His second daughter, Hikari, played with her five year old son, Itsuki, while Jun deftly avoided the boy darting around her legs in the kitchen. Ryo plopped the envelopes at the end of the counter and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“You’ve got a check.”

“It’s probably for five hundred yen.” She checked the pot of oden with a facetious smile, adding seasoning while it bubbled.

He opened the envelope, smiled at the number, then put it back on the table. “Thankfully, you’re wrong.”

She gave him a hug. “At least we should get a nice boost when the new book comes out.”

Hikari peeked at the check. “Really? This barely hits five figures, Dad.” She leaned on the counter, snacking from an open bag of shrimp crackers.

“Bring in some money, yourself. And go change, already. Your mother invited guests, one in particular I don’t want admiring your shirt.” He pointed at her low cut top with katakana characters approximating the word ‘juicy.’ She rolled her eyes and carried her son with her while Ryo shuddered. “Why did you have to invite HIM over?” He put away the crackers gruffly.

Jun leaned by the stove in a huff. “Ryo, please. I think it’s been long enough, and… well, I wanted to see Hiroko, too.” Her throat started to close up. “She’s already seventy. Her dementia is getting worse, and she needs both her son’s and your sister’s help. I want to spend time with her while she still recognizes me.”

He idly nudged at the bag. “Sorry… I didn’t know.”

“I didn’t find out until recently, either. Nobody wanted to talk about it, understandably.”

“When are they supposed to be here, again?” He checked the wall clock.

“Five thirty. They still have twenty more minutes, so be patient.”

He grumbled in his usual way, and gathered the bills to put on the writing desk.

An ebony motorcycle pulled up in the driveway, with a decal on the side reading “BLACK HEART.” A tall, well-built figure dismounted. Kuroko, their first daughter, pulled her helmet off and smoothed her bangs over her thick eyebrows. Looking up at the house, she spat her gum into the nearby flower bed.

“This shit doesn’t work.” She sat down on the carved bench on the porch, lighting up a cigarette. Her jacket had to come off in the unusually warm September weather. She took long drags while listening to the cicadas sing their shrill songs, deciding to pull out her smartphone for a quick chapter read of a murder thriller novel.

A car pulled up, drawing her attention. She recognized her aunt Kumi getting out of the driver’s side, and the short, bristly-haired man from the passenger’s side made her eye twitch, but it took an extra second to recognize the elderly woman.

As Kumi came around to help Hiroko out of the back seat – who was protesting the need for any help, Ippo offered to get the front door.

Kuroko glared at him, making him pause with a flinch before sidling up to the door.

 _The resemblance is uncanny…!!_ He gulped. “G-good afternoon, Kuroko-san!”

She took her time, exhaling a puff of smoke. “Good afternoon, Makunouchi-san. Need any help?”

He shakily rang the doorbell. “N-no, no. Thank you!”

Ryo opened the door a few seconds later. Glaring down at the flustered middle-aged man, he slammed the door closed, making Kuroko snort with laughter. A rankled Jun yelled loud from behind the walls.

“RYO…!!!”

The door immediately opened. “Relax, I was joking. Come in, come in.”

The eight of them sat at the dining room table, enjoying the spread with differing levels of enthusiasm.

“You did a good job with this oden, Tagawa-kun!” Hiroko lovingly ate the stew.

Jun’s unease was as palpable as Ippo’s. “Uhh… It’s Mashiba Junko, but thank you! I’m glad you like it!”

“Oh, that’s right! I’m sorry.”

Hikari let her son play with his food. “Wow, Ippo-san, it’s been forever since I last saw you! What was it, early high school?”

He swallowed hard. While Kuroko shared an uncanny resemblance to her father, Hikari was near identical to her mother, with the exception of having longer hair and more stunning feminine features. Last he remembered seeing her, puberty hadn’t given her a complete physical overhaul yet, but her hormones had fully kicked in. She made assisting with the move to the modern house rather cringeworthy.

“Y-y-yeah, it has been uh, a while! This is the first time I’ve seen Itsuki-kun, apart from pictures! He’s gotten so big...” His eyes briefly wandered to her cleavage, which her shirt was now an almost equally low cut t-shirt with her sister’s college logo. Instinctively, he checked to see if Ryo was giving him the death glare. He was.

She petted her young boy’s head, who was delighting in making a mess of his vegetables. “Yeah, he’s growing up so fast! Smart, too!”

“But destructive,” Kuroko interjected.

“He didn’t learn that from me...” She muttered, getting the boy to finally eat.

“H-how have you been, Kuroko-san?” Ippo forced himself to meet her gaze.

“Working on my master’s. I already have an internship with the engineers at Aomoya Water Processing, but I can already tell they’re a bunch of idiots, so I’m trying to switch out.”

“What!? Kuroko, you’ve already bailed on two other internships! I know you feel like those guys are assholes, but come on!” Jun fussed at her.

“It’s not my fault they don’t know how to do their jobs...” She sipped at her water.

“I’m sure you’ll find something, Kuroko-chan! I know how hard it is, dealing with unpleasant coworkers, but you’ll figure out a solution,” Kumi added.

“I’m not stooping to their level, Kumi-san.” She stabbed at a potato with her chopsticks.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Ryo muttered.

“Yeah, Ku-chan! Learn some respect!” Hikari sassed.

Kuroko leaned past her father. “Learn some restraint.”

Hikari flicked her chopsticks at her, splashing oden broth in the process.

Heavy bickering broke out across the table. Kumi was trying to be the peacekeeper, Hiroko was perturbed, Ippo was incredibly uncomfortable, Itsuki rolled his eyes, and Ryo maintained his death glare at Ippo, despite the raucous women on both sides of him. The boy tugged at his grandfather’s sleeve.

“Ojii-chan, can I go play games with Ippo?”

Ryo muttered an affirmation and the child zipped around the table, begging Ippo to join him in the living room. Ippo, flustered, looked back at Ryo who gave a small nod, but his expression remained dour.

Sitting at the couch in front of the massive flat screen HD TV, Itsuki grabbed the main controller to the PlayStation 4 and loaded up Mortal Kombat 11. He showed Ippo how the controls work, asking him a bevvy of questions in between.

“Why are you shaking? Are you cold?”

Ippo took a deep breath, trying to force the tremors down. “I-I’m j-just nervous, is all. I’ve n-never played any of the newer game systems!”

“It’s okay, Oji! I’ll go easy on you!” After the second round, Ippo wondered what “easy” meant to him.

“W-wow! You’re really good at this!” He worriedly looked at the screen, his character getting brutally eviscerated in a high definition, blood-soaked fatality. “Isn’t this, uh… really violent, though, for a kid your age?”

“He knows it’s fake.”

Ippo nearly launched off of the couch when Ryo’s gravelly voice spoke next to him. Itsuki howled with laughter.

“You got him good, Ojii-chan!”

Visibly shaking, Ippo wasn’t sure what to do.

“Scoot over, kid.” Ryo walked in front of them to take the open spot at the end of the couch. He watched as they played a few more sets, Ippo getting thoroughly drubbed through each one while trying to pay attention to Itsuki’s ramblings about his favorite things.

“You haven’t changed at all, Makunouchi,” Ryo dryly quipped.

“Hey, Oji! There was something I wanted to show you!” The controller bounced off the cushions as the child raced up to his bedroom.

They sat in awkward silence, but thankfully not for long. Itsuki returned, holding a display case with various dead bugs mounted in an almost professional fashion.

“Look at what I made! It won first prize at school! Isn’t it neat?”

Ryo had taken the controller and was messing around in the Kustomization menu. “Junko helped make the case and the mounting block, but the rest was him.”

Ippo marveled at it. “That’s really cool, Itsuki-kun! I bet your mom is proud!”

He held the case up to his chest. “No, Mom thinks bugs are creepy and gross. She did like that I got a ribbon, though!” He pointed to the award ribbon in the upper corner.

“The cricket incident scarred her for life.”

Ippo jumped again, this time from Kuroko’s deadpan voice next to him. She leaned over to address the child. “Hey, kiddo. The cicadas are out. Want to go catch some and show them to your mom?” Kuroko’s smirk cut into her intimidating features. Itsuki giggled in manic glee as he raced back upstairs to put away his case in exchange for his bug catching net.

As the two of them went outdoors, Ippo was left alone with Ryo, who had tweaked Scorpion to look as closely to his Executioner persona as possible. He returned to the fight menu and waited for the second player input. Ippo hadn’t noticed, listening to see if it was safe to go back into the dining room again.

“Aren’t you going to fight me, Makunouchi?”

In a panic, Ippo turned around to meet Ryo’s glare. Sweat pricked at his forehead. “Wh-what? Now!?”

Ryo took a moment to process the man’s stupidity. He held up his own controller. “Hurry it up.”

“Oh! Oh, r-right!”

Ippo, in hindsight, realized that Itsuki was indeed going easy on him. He couldn’t get out a single hit before getting brutally murdered in seconds. Deciding to stay quiet, he continued to get smeared round after round. _I’ll gladly take the losses as long as they’re digital…_

After a few sets, Ryo broke the silence. “It’s really bad tonight, isn’t it. The tremors.”

Ippo started to ease a little. He held up a shaky right hand. “Oh, t-this? I got a s-second opinion from another doctor, and he said that it was a n-nervous tick, influenced by hypochondria.”

“Sounds like a quack who doesn’t know your history.”

He perked up. “That’s what I thought too, but the strange thing is, it completely goes away when I go to punch, like this.” He put down the controller and went into his peekaboo stance. Immediately calming down, he whipped out a jab like he was still in his prime. When he relaxed, his hand started shaking again, but less so.

Ryo gave a derisive snort. “Damn. You really haven’t changed.” He sat up, rotating his left arm. “Did you hear about how we had to ‘retire’ Cherry, Junko’s bike?”

Ippo blinked, not understanding the sudden conversation shift. “N-no...”

“I was riding it back home with Junko from a road trip when a rainstorm hit. We were almost there, so I decided to gun it. Big mistake. I ended up hydroplaning and flipped the bike into oncoming traffic at the intersection. A truck ran the yellow light, smashing the bike to pieces. Junko was very lucky, only getting a nasty road rash along her side, but I busted my shoulder and broke my hip. Was in traction for weeks. I’ve got a 5 millimeter lift in my shoe, and the flicker...” He tried to whip his arm, but it was strained and there was an audible crunch of cartilage. “It’s seen better days. Then again, so has everything else; this eye is half dead, my back hurts, arthritis, and so on.” He flopped back into the couch.

“Wow… I thought she sold the motorcycle or something. I never thought to ask...” Ippo looked down at the controller.

“There was a lot she never wanted to talk about, so you did her a favor by not prying.”

Ippo felt guilty, regardless. “There’s a difference between not prying and drifting apart...”

“Running away with my sister like that… Yeah. Of course we all ‘drifted apart’, and I’m still kinda pissed off at you.” Ryo sat the controller in his lap. “But you know what the funny thing is, though? This family ended up being a worse headache for me than you ever were… but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

Ippo circled his thumb around one of the buttons, lost in his sad thought. “Actually… you did trade the world.”

Ryo set his jaw, remembering the night of his retirement via loss by disqualification. “Hmph. Yeah, I guess you’re right. I finally got my priorities straight, and we nearly lost Hikari for me to realize that.” He cracked his knuckles to distract himself from his emotions. “There have been way too many close calls with Junko. She’s the reason I’m going gray.” Ryo ran his fingers through his hair, reconsidering his previous words. “Even though I hate you for it… Thanks for taking care of Kumi. Protecting four women at once is too much, even for me.”

Ippo nervously laughed. “Oh, y-yes, of course!”

Ryo squeezed the controller in his hand, causing the plastic to creak. “Plus that little bastard...”

Ippo blanched at the sudden change in mood. “That’s harsh...”

“Well, it is true. He’s a cute little kid, smart as a whip, too, and I spoil him rotten, but sometimes… sometimes I see that pissant sperm donor’s face in his features...” He set the controller down on the end table with a hard click. Sighing, he relaxed back into the couch. “Thankfully, he has his grandmother’s charm overriding that detail.”

Ippo hunkered down. “I… I’m sorry, Mashiba-san.”

He gave out a low growl. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. Hikari has an unfortunate taste in older men, and if I had only known it was her teacher I had to look out for rather than the students...” Ryo paused, indulging his eye twitch. “He still would have gone missing, but I would have known where the pieces were buried.”

Ippo swallowed hard, the old fear brought back to life within his soul.

Ryo turned to him, a touch of shame within his features. “Karma really bit me on the ass on that one. Tried to protect all of my girls. I lost my sister to my sworn enemy, my wife nearly died a few times, and my youngest gets knocked up without graduating high school. The only exception was Kuroko, but that’s mainly because she’s a brilliant, ball-busting misandrist.”

“You were still a good father, Mashiba-san.”

He closed his eyes and gave a gentle smile. “Well, at least I got Kuroko into boxing. I’m still proud of her record.”

Ippo’s eyes went wide. “HEEEH!? I didn’t know she went into boxing!! Is she going for the belt like Junko-san did?”

Ryo bust out laughing. “HELL, no. She’s already retired from amateur with a record of 1-0-0.”

Ippo almost fell off of the couch. “That’s the record you’re proud of!?”

He slightly raised an eyebrow, still grinning. “Her MMA record is much better, though.”

Ippo jaw fell. “She switched from boxing to mixed martial arts!? So that’s why her record is so small! How is she doing with that?”

His grin widened, holding up two fingers. “Retired with an amateur record of 2-0-0.”

Ippo held his head in confused frustration as Ryo continued to laugh. “She got mad that everyone kept referring to her as ‘The Executioner’s Daughter’ and quit boxing, and she only went to two matches for MMA to spite the naysayers who called her a quitter. College took priority after that.” He sat up with a peculiar excitement. “We have the matches recorded, if you want to watch.”

Ippo’s was agape, and nodded speechlessly.

While Ryo was exiting out of the game and cycling through to the recorded files, Kuroko and Itsuki came back in, the boy being incredibly excited.

“Look, look! I caught one! It’s a male!” Itsuki jammed the still fussing cicada up to Ippo’s face, forcing him to pull back.

“Ahh! Uh, wow! Good job, Itsuki-kun!”

The boy proudly showed his grandfather, who nodded sagely. “Yeah, that’s a good one. Are you going to add it to your collection, or let him go?”

“It’s late in the season, so a lot of the females have already mated. I’ll keep this one!” He rushed upstairs. Ippo slowly turned to Kuroko, now imagining her as a fighter.

“He’s going to kill it in a jar.” She twitched at the corner of her mouth.

The video started to play on the screen, causing Hiroko to sneer. “DAD, you’re showing him my fights!?”

“You should be proud. You are the Executioner’s Daughter, after all,” He grinned maliciously.

“DAAAD...” She snarled.

Junko popped her head in through the doorway. “You’re watching the videos again?”

“Makunouchi hasn’t seen them.” He skipped past the announcer.

“Well, we’re deciding on getting tickets to see a movie. Did you want to come?”

“No thanks. I’m good.”

“The next screenings are starting in half an hour, so we have to hurry it up. Kumi, Hiroko, and Hikari are going, and I was only going if you were. Hey Ippo, did you want to go?”

“I, uh...” Ippo was distracted by the start of the match. They watched as Kuroko knocked out her opponent in a minute and a half. Her fighting style was nothing like her father’s.

“I think I’ll come, too.” Kuroko narrowed her eyes at her father while he started playing the second video.

“We were thinking about watching an anime, so Itsuki-kun can come, too,” Hikari smiled teasingly.

Kuroko shrugged. “I don’t care. As long as it’s not Doraemon or whatever.”

Hikari yelled up the stairs. “Itsuki, did you want to come to the movies with us?”

The rapid thumping of tiny feet down the stairs was her answer.

Kuroko’s second match had already finished in two minutes. Ryo started up the third match.

“Ippo, are you coming with us?” Hikari tried to get his attention.

“Hold on, he still has to see this one.” Ryo pushed play. “It’ll be over in five minutes.”

Ippo wasn’t surprised by the spoiler. Her third match was by far the hardest of the three, but after getting punched once, Kuroko made swift work of taking her opponent down and knocking her out in the second round. The woman’s face was a bloodied mess.

“Cool. We’re done. Makunouchi-san. Movies. Yes or no?” Kuroko tapped her foot.

His train of thought was still on the fights. “That was amazing, Kuroko-san! If you had moved up to professional MMA, I bet you could have—”

Ryo punched him in the trapezius hard enough for him to yelp. “Answer her.”

Looking back up at Kuroko, she had a smoldering anger burning in her eyes. Quickly realizing that it was probably a touchy subject, he dropped his interest in favor of the group. “Sure, sure! I-I can go to the movies, too!”

With everything settled, the group headed for the door.

“Kuroko, take the car,” Ryo ordered. She started to balk.

“What for? Can’t Hikari sit in the front of Makunouchi-san’s car like an adult?” Her sister gave her a dirty look on the way out.

“It needs gas, and it’s rude to crowd their backseat, anyway,” Jun interjected, handing a wad of one thousand yen bills over.

“Mom, I can pay for it myself...” She grumbled.

“Don’t argue!” Jun returned the intimidating look up to her daughter.

She sighed and took the money. “Thanks, Mom.”

Jun gave her a hug and wished her the best. Before Ippo could follow her out, Ryo startled him.

“Think fast!”

Ryo threw what looked like a punch, but something flew out. Right in front of Ippo, Kuroko caught a set of keys with a perfect imitation of her father’s flicker jab. It sent chills down his spine, seeing her reach extend almost to the same length. She gave him a funny look before heading out the door. Ippo took one last incredulous look at Junko and Ryo. He had a wry smile while Jun waved goodbye.

After the door closed, Jun plopped down on the couch and snuggled up to him.

“Whew. I lucked out tonight. No hot flashes.” She kissed him on the cheek. A thought occurred to him.

“They’re going to be gone for a while. We have the house to ourselves...” He pulled her close.

She leaned in. “So I get to play games with you?”

He looked to the side, not wanting to risk triggering an emotional flare up. “If that’s what you want to do...”

She giggled, wrapping her arms around him. “I’m kidding!!”

She kissed him in a way that let him travel back in time, to the warehouse in November of 1993. He felt young again, the blood rushing to both heads. He ran his fingers through her silvering hair, and caressed her rounded hip that didn’t have the scar. Their still strong arms pulled each other closer. He considered laying her on the couch.

The sound of the door unlatching pulled them apart in quick order. Kuroko peeked past the door.

“Hey, Dad? The car won’t start.”

He took a deep sigh, gritting his teeth. “It has a trick ignition. You have to pull up on the wheel to turn the key.”

She furrowed her brow. “Yeah, Hikari told me that, but she’s never done it herself and she’s not letting me try it out. I’m tempted to smack her.”

“Hold on, I’ll show how it works...” He grumbled, easing himself up from the couch and striding to the door.

Jun smiled, feeling like her twenty-year-old self again, as well. She got up and stood at the bottom of the stairs, reminiscing at the photos that lined the stairwell. She tested a few of her own punches for nostalgia’s sake.

 _It really has been a long time, hasn’t it? We’ve been so busy raising a family and keeping up with bills… Masaki married that Grandma Ashtray lady, Sakamoto-san, and moved to Tokyo to act as part time bouncer and play the piano at a night club. Aoki and Tomiko have been insanely busy since the grand opening of their restaurant, Returning Frog… Kimura’s still stuck in a cubicle at some company, last I heard… Takamura’s either dead, or in jail in Bangkok, or living it up in the Bahamas… Date-san sobered up after the intervention and became a personal trainer… Sendou’s become a helpful, albeit tsundere friend of the family as well as our business adviser, and Miyata’s gym is still going strong after the Kokusai merger…_ The thought of her old gym made her sad. _I can’t believe that both of my former coaches died within a year of each other. Kamogawa was understandable, even remarkable that he was still kicking around so well in his late nineties, but Yamako-san’s brain hemorrhage… he was still so young. Hiroko’s the last surviving great-grandparent between the Mashiba, Makunouchi, and Tagawa families..._

Her eyes wandered to the enlarged photos in the hallway at the top of the stairs, distracting herself from her depressing train of thought. One was the photo of her and Ryo posing in Vegas with full boxing regalia and belts decorating their waists. The other was the most recent family photo. Leaning on the banister, she took a moment to be thankful for how much good luck she had managed to wrangle into her life. _At least I got to send Hiroko on a vacation or two, as well as Dad._

Ryo came back in, waving goodbye as he closed the door. Coming up behind her, he gently wrapped his long arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder.

“Are you going to be okay?”

She wiped a couple of tears away. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just feeling grateful.”

“That’s good. I’m feeling grateful, too.” He kissed at her neck, making her giggle. She turned around, gazing at him with love and some concern. “You’re not going to be in too much pain, right?”

He lifted her up with barely any trouble, making her squeal in delight.

“Just who do you think you’re talking to?” He carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom, snickering along with her.

THE END… almost.

After the second ride, they were both cleaning themselves up in the bathroom when a cicada started its mating call from one room over. They looked at each other in confusion before Ryo remembered.

“Right, I forgot. Itsuki’s not allowed around the ethyl alcohol without supervision.”

“The poor thing sounds jealous.” She gave him a caress before leaving. Watching her curves in the mirror, he decided to hold off on taking out the trash.

“Want to go for a knockout in round three?” His long reach playfully smacked her ass.

“If we have time and you do the dishes...” She gave a teasing wiggle.

He mulled it over, grabbing a quick drink of water and an Ibuprofen. _Fair enough._ A smile creased his face, passing through the bedroom doorway. Glancing at the display case filled with Jun’s carvings, he returned the sneer to his favorite one. _The Horseman of Hunger and Determination rides again…_

THE END!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my gigantic slab of self-indulgent fanwankery! I hope it cheers you up in these tough times like it did for me!
> 
> • So Jun was a RUNAWAY as a teenager, Ryo DROVE HER WILD, her bike was called CHERRY BOMB, she spent many AMERICAN NIGHTS chasing after the championship belt, she kept SECRETS during her first six months in Tokyo, the blatant song choice at her wedding, and her first daughter looks like a young Joan Jett who rides a bike called BLACK HEART. :D  
>  • If you’re wondering, Kumi had fertility problems, and couldn’t bear children. You’d figure it would be the other way around concerning her and Jun.  
>  • Hikari’s slice of backstory is pretty much Erica Nakajima from the first volume of Great Teacher Onizuka.  
>  • As for Ryo and the world title, it was his first defense when word leaked to his seconds that Jun, who was 7 months pregnant with Hikari, collapsed before taking the cab with Kumi to the match. Hikari had kicked the placenta loose, and they both nearly died. Ryo had to make the decision to continue with his fight, or risk one last goodbye to his wife and unborn child. Jun was in a coma for nearly a week while Hikari was in NICU. He announced his retirement after they came home.  
>  • “Returning Frog” is a Japanese joke. It’s “kaeru kaeru.”


End file.
